Collateral Luck
by Codaram
Summary: The Bijū 9 is the most unconventional private security team in Tokyo. Their methods, unorthodox. Professionalism, all but absent. In fact, some insist they're only claim to fame is getting lucky. But when Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyūga need protection from a ruthless gang, they're called in to help. After all, a little luck can go a long ways. Not your average AU story.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So I noticed something. There is an extremely small number of stories revolving around the Tailed Beasts, even though there are great possibilities for these characters.

I had recently watched the American Film **The Expendables 2**, and it gave me the idea of humanizing the Tailed beasts and giving them a story of their own. Their personalities (except for 2 or three) are largely unexplored, giving me the creative freedom to experiment with what works and what doesn't. There will be (trashy) humor galore in this story, as it will mainly be used as a break from my first story, **Entwined by Love, Enslaved by Fate**.

I hope you like it!

**(Oct. 31 Note: This was originally in a different section, but as of right now I am conflicted who the other main character is, so it has been changed to NaruHina since they are the focus of the next two chapters.)**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Down on their Luck**

Tokyo was considered to be one of the safest cities you could hope to live in, by both its citizens as well as by travelers and tourists. Crime was carefully monitored at all times by the police, and only the most heinous acts slipped through their watch, and spilled out into the streets of the metropolis. Still, not every district could be held to the same standards, and as a result, some of the neighborhoods seemed less than friendly.

In one of these rougher areas of the city stood a house. Unassuming at first, it towered over its neighbors, as it was far larger than any of the other homes in the area, even the buildings that held entire apartment complexes. Surely someone of wealth lived here, a diamond in the rough?

Nope.

"WILL SOMEBODY TURN THAT GODDAMNED MUSIC OFF?" someone from behind the morning newspaper shouted in the kitchen. He flapped the pages angrily as he waited for his request to be granted, trying to concentrate on the task at hand, but the music only got louder. Someone wanted to piss him off. And oh, it was working.

Kurama slapped the paper on the table, exhaling a massive plume of smoke from his cigar. It was _wayyyy_ to early for this shit. He glanced at the clock; it read 11:45.

Yep…way too early.

Kurama stomped over to the staircase. "I SAID TURN THAT MUSIC OFF! Some of us are trying to do something productive down here!"

"Sure you are, asshole!" someone called down from the second floor. "There's no way you're just doing the crossword or some stupid shit like that!" This was followed by a farting sound, several in fact.

Kurama scowled. He had burned through the rest of his cigar in his anger, and spat the useless stub into the trashcan, not even bothering to check if it set the overflowing trash on fire before he lit up a new one. If they wanted to blast that noise, they could just deal with the scent of smoke everywhere.

"You know you're just going to die _even_ quicker if you keep that pace up," he heard a voice from behind him say.

Kurama snickered. "If I was going to die, I would have a long time ago. Someone up there's watching out for me, I tell ya."

Matatabi rolled her eyes. If there was in fact someone watching over them like he said, it wasn't someone they wanted to. She meandered over to the table where Kurama was chomping down on his smoke, trying to figure out a 10 letter word for something that was used as a topping for ramen. There were several large bags in her arms, and she plopped them down on top of Kurama's distraction.

"Thanks for your help with the groceries." Matatabi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Meh, you had it under control. I know what you get like when someone tries to pull the 'gender superiority' on you, so no thanks."

Matatabi snorted, but silently agreed with him. She'll be damned if she was going to let any of these guys think they can boss her around.

She was a proud, attractive woman in her mid-thirties, though by her own admission she didn't look a day over 24. It was both a blessing and a curse, though the curse applied more to the seedy scumbags who attempted to hit on her, usually ending up with a few broken ribs and a bloody nose.

That was if they were lucky, by the way.

A bright blue scarf kept her untamed blonde hair from getting in her eyes, wrapping it in a tight ponytail that hung over her left shoulder. Fashion never really appealed to her, so she preferred to wear whatever was comfortable instead of what was popular. For today, it was a bright pink tank top with grey sweatpants. Not the most elegant choice, but it wasn't like anyone was going to try and say something about it.

"You sure you got enough milk?" Kurama joked, eyeing the numerous gallons she had set down underneath the table. "I swear, you're addicted to that stuff, just like that pest of yours."

"Yugito is _not_ a pest," Matatabi protested, smacking Kurama over the head with a frozen chunk of beef. "And besides, it's good for your health." She made a whistling sound, and 'Yugito' hurried through a hole in the wall, revealing herself to be a small tabby cat. She meowed in appreciation for the treat, and hungrily lapped up the milk Matatabi had set down for her.

Kurama rubbed the sore spot on his head, exhaling his smoke through his nose and staring at the mangy feline, scowling. He was around the same age as Matatabi, though after a few drinks, he usually forgot what that number was. Built like a tank, he'd be in the same boat as his companion if he didn't always look like he was in a bad mood, which he was. It's not that he was a hateful person; it's just that he hated a lot of things.

"I hate it when you don't tell me when you're going out." He spat on the floor, pushing the cigar butt under the rug before Matatabi could see. "You never get what I want, you know."

"_You_ hardly eat anything to begin with, numbskull. You're lucky I'm such a good cook, otherwise you'd probably starve."

Kurama smirked. "The only reason you're a good cook around here is because I get everyone liquored up before dinnertime. Heh, and you wonder why that cat of yours disappears every night at the same time." He started laughing to himself, but noticed Matatabi brandishing a kitchen knife, and promptly shut up.

"Any of the others up yet?" she asked. The knife she was holding was being used to slice through some fresh oranges, and to shoo away Yugito whenever she tried to nick one of them.

"What do you think?" Kurama snorted. "I'll give you one guess as to who's up and who isn't."

Matatabi didn't seem to be in the mood to play that game, and instead wandered over the staircase, cupping her hands over her mouth.

"Hey! Get your asses up, I'm makin' breakfast!" she called up into the higher floors. The music that had been blaring the entire time suddenly shut off, and she could hear heavy footsteps heading for the stairs. She heard someone burp rather loudly, and instantly knew who it was.

"Honestly, do you even know what manners are?" she asked as the source of the bodily functions appeared at the top of the steps. He raced right past her, picking into his ear. Matatabi suddenly reached out with her arm, snatching Shukaku by the collar.

"You didn't answer my question."

Shukaku laughed loudly, clapping her on the back. "Awww come on, sweet thing! If I didn't do the things I do, you wouldn't give me the time of day!"

_Bulging _was the best way to describe this man, who never seemed to care if his shirt was covered in barbeque sauce or if his beer belly was poking out from underneath his shirt, if he was wearing one, that is. There were always noises coming from him, most of them unpleasant to think about, and if there was something dirty in the house, chances are he had something to do with it. As of right now, he was wearing the same shirt he had three days ago, and the smell was beginning to be a problem. Not that he cared.

Yet for all his exterior faults, and his complete lack of manners, a more loyal friend couldn't be found. He wasn't the smartest, and never tried to be, but you could count on him when you needed him.

Unless you were counting on him to take a shower. He would just laugh in your face.

"Maybe if you didn't stink like shit all the time, I would pay more attention to you." Matatabi retorted, quickly letting go of Shukaku's shirt when she realized there was Cheetos dust all over it.

"Tch, don't lie to me baby doll! You know my _scent_ is part of my charm!" He smiled broadly, before rushing down the stairs to see if any of their food was ready.

"Morning, asshole," Kurama mocked as Shukaku wandered into the kitchen. He was still sore about the loud music. 'Do you really have to wake up to that racket _every_ morning?"

Shukaku grinned. "Now now, don't deny a man his pleasures! Besides, you never finish that damned crossword anyways. You're not smart enough for that!"

"I'm smart enough to know where to hide a body," Kurama growled. "Keep talking, and maybe I'll show you."

Shukaku wasn't the least bit threatened. If Kurama wanted to kill him, he would have a looonng time ago. Yugito hissed at him as he approached the oranges Matatabi was still in the middle of cutting, and rudely shoved the cat out of the way before grabbing two of them and shoving one into his mouth, tossing the other up in the air.

"So what's new?" he asked, sending spittle all over Kurama's paper. "All death and destruction, and other interesting stuff? An explosion or two maybe? I need something to put me in a good mood."

Kurama shook his head. "No, nothing that fun. Just a bunch of politics and entertainment articles. Even the classifieds don't seem as shady as they usually are."

"Maybe that's because we haven't put in an ad for a while," Shukaku chuckled, spitting out the peel of the first orange as he began scarfing down the second.

"Yeah, maybe…"

Shukaku frowned. Kurama usually wasn't like this. By now, he was usually chasing him throughout the house, threatening to cut off certain body parts that Shukaku considered very dear to him. But instead, he was completely fixated on the paper, with an almost gloomy look on his face.

"What's with the attitude?" he asked, plopping down in the chair next to him. "This doesn't seem like you at all! You haven't tried to choke me, set me on fire, cut off my-"

"I know." Kurama interrupted. He bore down with his pencil on the newspaper hard enough to snap the lead off. "I know. I got this weird feeling right now. I don't really know how to explain it."

"Take a laxative! That always helps me!"

"You know that's not what I mean!" Kurama snapped. "Things have been quiet for way too long now. It makes me feel uneasy. Like there's something big coming, you know?" He wandered over to the window. His apprehension wasn't completely uncalled for. They lived in one of the dinkiest neighborhoods in the city. It was only natural to feel uneasy when the crime in a place like this slows to a crawl. Like when the birds stop singing before a storm hits.

Shukaku waved it off. "Nyah, I wouldn't worry about it! If it's quiet around here, that just means we're doing our job, right? I mean, it's boring as hell around here, but it's not like I'm going to go out and cause some trouble just to shake things up. Well, not too_ much_ trouble, anyway…"

Kurama rolled his eyes. He'd never be able to explain it to anyone, but Shukaku always helped him feel at ease. "You know, I'd feel a lot better if you went out and caused some trouble. Once I see your mug shot in the paper, my mood would perk right up!"

"Like they'd ever catch this hunk of man," Shukaku replied, trying (and failing miserably) to make his gut seem like a set of toned abs. "I could outrun half of the cops in this city with my legs tied behind my ass!"

"I know. I've seen the security footage." Kurama replied. "Why'd the hell you have to bring that up? I was just about to stop having those nightmares." He went back to his crossword, but was still stuck on the same word he had been for over 10 minutes now.

'_What's a 10-letter word for a ramen topping? Chicken? No…seaweed? Nah….'_

Shukaku laughed, long and loud. Yeah, like he said it was boring when there wasn't any action going on in the city, but if it had to be quiet, he was glad that at least his housemates made life a little more interesting.

The doorbell rang. Kurama hoped he had imagined it, but when it began to go off constantly, he stormed towards the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Will you shut the f-" His mouth clamped shut once he realized who was on the other side of the door. It was an elderly man, heavily wrinkled and covered in a thick white beard. He looked to be the kind of man everyone could get along with, but right now as he was standing there in his bathrobe, Kurama could tell he wasn't in a good mood.

"Everyone else!" the old man spat. "Everyone else dropped off their rent this morning except for you! This is the third time, Kurama! Where's my money?"

"Easy _easy_, old man! We're just a little short on work right now! I'll have the rent for you in a few days, I swear!"

The man eyed Kurama suspiciously. "…how short?" He craned his neck to take a peek in the house, and when he saw the state of it, what with the dirt and all, and seemed to understand.

"Kurama…why didn't you tell me?" he asked, though he knew damn well why Kurama kept his money problems to himself. He was far too proud to let anyone know about that sort of thing.

"Like I said, things will pick up in a few days! I promise you, you don't have to worry."

"I do have to worry! I'm sorry for the way I acted just now…I didn't think that through. I can give you a pass on the rent if you'd like-"

"You know how I feel about handouts, Rick." Kurama said firmly. "I told you I'll have the rent soon, so just expect me on your front door step in a few days, alright?"

The man didn't seem the least bit convinced, but he knew how pointless arguing with him was. He stepped off the porch, shaking his head.

"You're too stubborn for your own good sometimes, you know that?"

Kurama chuckled. "See you later, old man." He gently shut the door, and sighed.

"Who was that?" Shukaku called from the kitchen.

"Another one of those prostitutes you knocked up," Kurama shouted back, on his way back to the kitchen to finish his crossword. "She said something about a paternity suit, so I told you moved away 2 years ago."

Shukaku laughed again. "Atta boy! Always looking out for me!"

His merriment was cut short when the phone began to ring. They didn't ever bother installing an answering machine, so it would continue to do so until someone got off their ass and picked it up.

Will somebody answer the damn phone!?" Matatabi called from upstairs. "I'm a little busy trying to get the rest of these lazy-asses up!"

"No can do, baby-doll!" Shukaku howled back. "You know I don't like to be interrupted during the most important meal of the day!"

"_Every _meal is the most important meal of the day for you, asshole!" Matatabi yelled back. She groaned in exasperation, and rushed back downstairs before the phone's ringing drove her crazy.

"Hello?" she said, trying to keep her tone as civil as possible. A conversation was starting, but Kurama wasn't listening. He had just figured out the 10 letter word for a ramen topping that had been stumping him all morning. He filled in the blank squares, smiling to himself.

"There we go…_Narutomaki_."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Eh? Eh? You like it? I had a blast writing this, and I hope that if you took the time to check it out, you enjoyed reading it. This won't be updated as often as my main story, as I can't spread out my concentration all over the place, but you'll see a new chapter sprout up from time to time. We'll just say it's on the back-burner for now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hey, if you're reading this, you're awesome! Why? Because you're checking out my other story, of course!

Like I've said, this is on the back burner, but I still like to delve into it every now and then. Unlike my other story, **Entwined by Love, Enslaved by Fate**, these chapters won't have set minimum lengths, and will end simply when I feel like it's a good time for them to.

Also, I'm a little bit conflicted. I was expecting this story to be mainly about Naruto and (as I explained in the first chapter), Kurama. However, there's a strong sense of NaruHina in here, so I don't know which section to put it in. For now, I'll switch it over to just Naruto since that's the only one I'm sure of, but we'll see.

Onto the story!

* * *

**Chapter 2 - And Your Name Is?**

"Why do we have to go through this shit _every_ day?"

"Why do you have to bug me about this _every_ day? You see what I did there? I turned it right back around on you."

The person who was currently 'bitching' was none other than Kiba Inuzuka, a foul-mouthed young man with a passion for the ladies, but with about as much charm as a rotting log. It didn't help that he relied solely on complimenting their 'feminine part's in order to pick up girls, but the occasional success left him 100% sure that his patented, tried and true method would one day score him what he liked to call the mystical 'Mega-babe'.

The bitchee, as it were, was his friend and occasional sexual-harassment-lawsuit-preventer, Naruto Uzumaki. They had been friends since high school, sharing such passions as skipping class and cutting up on the few occasions they decided to show up. But that didn't mean he was a bad person, not by any means. He was just loud, possessed little manners, and could possibly be a contender for the densest person in the entire world.

Maybe that was why he and Kiba got along so well.

"Turning it around on me my ass!" Kiba snorted, punching his friend in the back. "You just avoided my question, which is a _valid_ one, by the way."

He jumped ahead of Naruto, spreading his arms wide for all passerby to see. "Every day, it's the same! While I go to work, you go to that coffee shop and stare at that girl for God knows how long! And you say _I'm_ the one who creeps on women?"

"How do you know what I'm doing when you're supposed to be at work?" Naruto asked. "Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having a job if you're not going to stay?"

"I _do_ get a lunch break, dumbass," Kiba retorted. "And after you walked with me for the fourth time in a row, I got a little curious. Imagine my surprise when I put the pieces together that the only reason you show up at this dinky little place is so you can chat up that waitress! I mean she's hot as hell, I'll give you that one, but that's just the problem! She's outta your league, man!"

Naruto spat on the ground. "What? And you telling her how nice her ass looks would work better? And who was it that had to bail your ass out of jail last month?"

Kiba's face puffed up at the scalding remark. "I already paid you back for that, so there's no reason to hold it against me! But if you have to know, I wouldn't try that because she doesn't look like my type. She's too sweet."

"Now who's the creep? How do you know how she acts?"

"Duh…I listened to her talk to some of the other customers. If I hadn't had to go back so early, I would have helped her out last time I checked up on you. She's gotta put up with some real shitty fellas in there."

Naruto leaned forward, concerned. "Who? Was someone bothering her?"

"Yeah, a couple of douchebags were giving her a hard time. Apparently they like to frequent the place almost as often as you do. You know, you might be able to actually learn a thing or two from them; at least they talk to her, even if they're assholes about it."

Now it was Naruto's face to turn red. "I've talked to her! It's not like I just sit there and stare at her all day long; that would be just weird."

"Ordering your coffee and saying 'thank you' don't count as you talking to her, moron. You're gonna have to try a little harder than that."

His blonde friend kicked an empty can into a nearby alleyway. "How am I supposed to do that? Just waltz right up to her and say 'Hey…is it weird that I've been coming to this coffee shop for the past few weeks for the sole purpose of seeing you? My name's Naruto, by the way'."

Kiba laughed. "I'm sure that would work. Might even get you laid!"

"Is that _all_ you think about? And you wonder why you get slapped in the face nearly every day…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you want to be some white knight who's gonna ride in and save some damsel in distress. C'mon man, this isn't some fairy tale. You have to _man up_ if you want to start something with this girl."

"Nothing wrong with hoping…" Naruto muttered to himself.

Kiba leaned in, ready for another round of taunting. "What was that, Naruto? I couldn't hear you all that well?"

But Naruto was ready. "Oh, I just said that you're gonna be late for work now, and I hope you're sister leaves you in one piece." He pointed to a digital clock that could be seen from another window, to help make his point. A stream of curse words, some never before heard by man, spewed forth from Kiba's mouth as he turned suddenly, and ran across the street. A car had to slam on the brakes, and the only thing louder than its screeching tires, was Naruto Uzumaki laughing his ass off.

He wiped his merriment away as Kiba grew further and further away, a small part of him genuinely worried for his safety. Kiba's sister had a foul temper, even worse than his own, and if he was even one minute late for work, a fresh set of bruises would remind the 'runt of the litter', as she called him, who the boss was among the two of them.

It was only a short distance from the café Naruto and Kiba had been arguing about, and Naruto was starting to get nervous. Namely because no matter how much he hated it, he knew Kiba was right. If this was going to evolve beyond 'obsessively shadowing' as he preferred to put it, he would need to grow some balls, and actually say something to the girl worthwhile.

'_Man, I HATE it when Kiba is right.'_

* * *

Hinata Hyūga was _not_ in a good mood.

Once again, one of her lazy co-workers had dumped her shift onto Hinata, citing some sappy story about an ill family member. Hinata could see through the obvious lie, and cursed through gritted teeth that once again she didn't have the proverbial balls to tell said co-worker to shove that lie up her ass.

To make matters worse, it was the lunch rush. But Hinata was an optimist if anything, and she blew a few strands of hair out from her eyes, and tried to put on a happy face.

"You do know how obvious you make it when you're in a bad mood, right?"

Hinata sighed. Her friend Tenten could always see right through her, no matter how hard she tried. Maybe that was because they were close friends, and had been since before Hinata could even remember, but more than likely it was just because Hinata was terrible at lying.

She smiled. "Tenten-san, I don't know what you're talking about! I feel fine!"

"That's bullshit and you know it. I could have backed you up if you had let me, Hinata. You don't have to let everyone else walk all over you."

"Thank you, Tenten-san, but really, it's alright. It just means more money to take home, right?"

Tenten laughed. "Yeah, I guess there's always that!" She ducked underneath the counter to grab some fresh grounds, before dumping them into one of the machines. Being the barista certainly had its advantages over working out from the other side of the counter, especially since Tenten didn't have to deal with people. It was an advantage for everyone, really, since her infamous tendency towards violence might have led to a few assault charges with some of the more obnoxious customers they had had to put up with. Tenten could never really understand how Hinata dealt with them, but then again, there was a lot about the young woman that Tenten found strange.

There had been hordes of guys over the years who had flirted with her endlessly, trying to get her attention. And despite several of them looking like real winners in Tenten's opinion, Hinata always quietly denied their affections, and sent them out the door with their tails tucked in between their legs. She didn't think Hinata had _ever_ had a steady boyfriend, or maybe not even a single date, and she was starting to get worried.

She waited until Hinata had finished up another table, before beckoning her back over.

"So get this: me and the girls are going to go out dancing tonight, and I'm not going to let you get-"

"I'm sorry Tenten-san," Hinata interrupted, "but I was going to visit Tō-san and Hanabi-chan tonight. Please, don't let that ruin your night. You and the others should go have a wonderful time."

Tenten scowled. "I would if I knew you were actually going to get laid. Like seriously, have you even seen a man's penis?"

Hinata blushed a bright red, and she glanced around to make sure no one had heard Tenten's _bold_ remark. "Tenten-san, please!"

Tenten laughed. "I'm only messing with you! Trust me, I know by now that you're content to wait for your knight in shining armor to come rushing in and whisk you away!" She added in a girly sigh for effect, and Hinata's cheeks puffed up with mock anger.

"There's nothing wrong with believing in a fairy tale!" she protested. "And b-besides, I just haven't been interested in any of the boys you've tried to set me up with."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're only into Mr. Tall, Blond and Handsome." Tenten was grinning cheekily, pleased as punch she could make Hinata squirm the way she could. "Who, by the way, just showed up."

She pointed to somewhere behind her, and Hinata tried to hide a quick peek. She gasped when she saw who it was, and when she turned back around, she found Tenten covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.

This stranger was a frequent tool for Tenten to poke fun at Hinata. He had been coming in for the past few weeks, and despite Hinata's best attempts, hadn't even told her his name. He had a well-built physique from what Hinata could see, and his messy blonde hair was practically glowing from the sunlight from outside.

But that wasn't what made Hinata strangely drawn to him. Despite how shy he was the moment he set foot inside the shop, whenever his vibrant blue eyes locked with hers, if only for a moment, she felt incredibly ignorant. Like there was an entire world out there for her to see, and he was the only one who could show it to her. It was the kind of fairy tale stuff that Tenten made fun of her for.

"You're drooling on Table 7's order, you know."

Hinata snapped back to reality, and turned red as a tomato when she realized that Tenten was only making fun of her again.

"You think he'll say more than two words to you this time?" Tenten asked, though her voice said that she had already decided.

Hinata didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes practically screamed 'I hope so'. She took a deep breath, and after she had dropped off the order she was carrying, slowly made her way over to where he had sat down.

"Hello, sir. Is there anything I can get you today?"

The young man just stared at her, like it was the first time he had ever seen her. Hinata squirmed a little, but tried to hide it since he was most likely unaware of what he was doing.

He muttered something under his breath, and Hinata leaned closer to try and hear what he had said.

"I'm sorry sir?" she asked, making sure that she hadn't missed what he ordered. The young man seemed extremely flustered all of a sudden and mumbled something about the special they were serving for that day.

Dejected, Hinata wrote it down, and headed back up to the front counter. Tenten was waiting for her, ready to console her friend.

"Okay, so either that's guys _really_ dense, or he's gay. Looks like I need to step in if you're gonna actually get to talk to this guy."

Hinata didn't like the sound of that. "Tenten-san? What are you talking about?"

"Nothing weird, so wipe that scared look off your face." She reached under the counter again, and pulled out a piece of pie. Along with coffee and similar beverages, they also offered a small variety of pastries for patrons to enjoy with their drink.

"Take this to him, and just tell him it's on the house. If he doesn't take the bait, hint that it was you who set this up. That should get his mouth open."

"Are you s-sure about this?" Hinata asked, nervous.

"You can't be serious. It's like, _two _dollars. Just take the damned pie over to that idiot, and don't come back until you get his phone number or something juicy like that!"

Before Hinata could protest any further, Tenten got a firm grip on her shoulders, whipped her around, and shoved her back towards the young man's table. Her heart was pounding, and her palms felt a little sweaty. What if he didn't like pie? Or worse…he was diabetic!

'_Okay, Hinata….you're overthinking this,'_ she thought to herself, trying to calm down. _'Just act nice, and hope for the best. That's all you can do right now.'_

This time the young man noticed her coming, and hurriedly cast his eyes back down to the newspaper he had grabbed. Hinata felt her confidence take a blow, but didn't stop.

She smiled as warmly as she could, and set the plate down next to him. "Would you l-like something for dessert, s-sir?"

She winced. She sounded like some frightened school girl what that stutter. Now he probably would think she was some kind of weird, awkward-

"Th-thanks." His voice was soft, and sounded nearly as nervous as she had. But there was a hint of surprise hidden somewhere under there, and Hinata felt her hopes rising.

The boy set the paper down, and looked at Hinata proper. He seemed to be struggling with something for a few seconds, before his face erupted into the most adorable grin Hinata had ever set eyes on.

"You know…" he began, speaking a little louder, "I've been coming here for quite a while now, but I don't think I've ever got your name. Is it alright if I ask?"

Hinata froze. Great, the first cute guy she was actually willing to talk to, and she can't even remember her own name. That's a great first impression alright.

"It's okay, I don't bite," the boy chuckled. He was still smiling at her, and Hinata squirmed under all the attention.

And then, suddenly it came to her. Her name was Hinata! At last! There was still hope she could salvage this thing!

"My n-name's Hina-"

"There's my favorite girl!"

Hinata was suddenly engulfed in the arms of some stranger, and the awkward angle she was standing in didn't give her the opportunity to see who it was. What she _could_ see, however, was the adorable blond boy looking horribly dejected, under the impression that this was Hinata's boyfriend, or at the very least that Hinata even knew who the hell this was.

The stranger finally let go, and Hinata recoiled when she realized who it was. This complete ass had been coming in for the past few weeks with a posse of like-minded douchebags, intent on making Hinata incredibly uncomfortable.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about you lately, hn!" the man exclaimed, leering at Hinata's chest. He had long blonde hair, but his was pulled back into a ponytail, with a large tuft covering up his left eye.

"Umm…I don't think we've met before, s-sir…" Hinata answered quietly, taking a step back. Usually these guys would show up when there was more people in the shop, but as Hinata took a look around, she realized that the crowd had grown severely thin, and she began to worry.

One of the men behind the other blonde laughed. "Looks like you're still shit with the ladies, Deidara."

'Deidara' turned around, angrily shoving his companion. "Shut up, Hidan! Hn!" he took a deep breath, and turned back to Hinata. "You don't remember me, huh? Well how about we become a little more _acquainted_? I know a perfect little spot we can have some alone time, hn."

Hinata bit her lower lip. "Umm…I, uh…"

"Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?"

Everyone turned to look at Tenten, who had been worried for her friend. She was doing her best to maintain a civil tone, but Hinata could tell that she was holding back.

Deidara suddenly scowled, spitting on the floor. "I don't remember saying anything to _you_, hn. I'm not ordering any of your shitty coffee, so don't bother me. I'm busy, if you can't tell, hn."

Tenten wasn't the slightest bit put off. "Even if you wanted any of our 'shitty' coffee, as you put it, we're about to close for lunch break. So why don't you and your pals just go find someone else to piss off?"

"What did you just say to me, you bitch!?" Deidara exclaimed angrily. He stepped towards her, but a third member of their group stopped him, holding his arm out.

"This is neither the time nor the place, Deidara," the man said, quietly watching Tenten. "Don't let your temper get the best of your judgment."

Deidara chuckled. "Sasori, my man, you're always appealing to my good side, hn! What would I do without you?"

He offered a hand out to Tenten, forcing a smile. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. How about we call it square and make up, hn?"

Tenten folded her arms. Like she was going to believe that bullshit. "That's nice and all, but I told you we're closing soon, and I'd hate to call the cops just because of some loiterers."

Hidan laughed again. "Hahaha, this one's feisty! She's making you look like her bitch, eh Deidara?"

Things were getting tense. Deidara was staring at Tenten, trying to decide if he could tolerate her any longer. She put on a brave face, but Hinata could see a bead of sweat roll down Tenten's forehead. She was just as scared as Hinata herself was.

But then, the young man, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly stood. He gathered up his paper, and smiled at Hinata and Tenten.

"So, you two ready to go?"

Hinata's mouth hung open, but the ability to speak hadn't left her just yet. "S-sir?"

The boy smiled. "We were all gonna go out to lunch together! What, don't tell me you already forgot?"

Deidara scowled, pointing a finger at him. "Sorry kid, but they're not going anywhere until we become _friends_ got it, hn? So why don't you just skip on home; I think it's past your bedtime."

But Naruto just ignored him, walking around to the other side of the table until he was standing in between Deidara and Hinata. "You ready to get going then?" he asked, smiling.

Hinata suddenly gasped in fear when Hidan's arm draped lazily across Naruto's shoulder, brandishing a switchblade in his hand. In one fluid motion he opened the knife, and the blade stopped inches away from Naruto's neck.

"Maybe you didn't fucking hear us, so I'll repeat what Deidara just said. These two aren't going _anywhere _until we say they are, so leave if you don't want to end up with a hole in your fucking throat."

Hinata was starting to whimper in fear. She didn't want anyone getting hurt, especially someone who didn't even know her.

"P-please, sir…it's fine. Just leave before anything happens. I don't want anyone getting hurt on my behalf."

Deidara smirked. "Smart girl. You'd be pretty smart yourself if you actually listened to her before you lose your chance."

Naruto laughed softly to himself. It was unsettling. "Yeah…I guess I'm a little stubborn sometimes."

Everything happened so quickly. Naruto spun around and slammed his fist right into Hidan's jaw before he could react, sending him tumbling over backwards into the other two. Deidara saw what was happening, and had begun to pull out a gun before Hidan fell on top of him.

Hinata screamed in fear as Naruto spun back around and grabbed her shoulders.

"You two need to get out of here, now!" he yelled. Hinata was roughly pushed backwards into Tenten, who despite her pride, understood that they needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Hinata, let's go!" she exclaimed, grabbing onto her wrist. But Hinata resisted. How could she let someone die in her stead?

"B-but, I-"

"I said go!" Naruto yelled, before shifting his attention back to the three thugs, who were quickly picking themselves back up. Hinata watched in horror as Naruto grabbed a nearby table and threw it at them, while Tenten was dragging Hinata out of the store. They heard two shots being fired, and Hinata screamed again.

"Don't look back, Hinata. Keep going or we'll waste the chance he's given us!" Tenten screamed. She was just as shaken as Hinata was, and looked like she could barely keep to her feet. The commotion was attracting a large amount of attention from nearby passerby, with several of them pulling out their cell phones.

They started running down the street, desperate to put some distance between themselves and the store. Hinata was having trouble coming to terms with what happened, and suddenly lost her balance. She collapsed in the street, and Tenten was a ways ahead before she noticed.

"Hinata, watch out!" she screamed, pointing wildly. Hinata, wincing in pain as she got to her knees, turned her head to see a truck headed straight for her. He was honking his horn repeatedly, but even though he was slamming on the breaks, it didn't look like she could get away in time. Hinata's eyes widened in fear, but her legs would not obey her. She shut her eyes, and waited.

But nothing happened. Hinata suddenly felt her body jerked backwards, falling into someone's body. Hinata whipped her head around to see who had come to her rescue, and couldn't believe her eyes.

"You need to be more careful!" Naruto hissed, gathering the petite girl into his arms. He had a scratch on his cheek from where a bullet must have grazed him, but other than that, he looked relatively unharmed.

"Split up!" he called out to Tenten, who looked incredibly relieved to see the two of them alive. "We'll have a better chance that way!" He rose to his feet, and made to run off in the opposite direction.

"You take care of her, do you hear me!" Tenten yelled back. "You may have saved us, but I won't forgive you if you let her get hurt!"

And despite the situation, Naruto smiled. "Deal."

However, they didn't get far before Deidara and the others burst out of the shop. All three of them had produced guns now, and they spotted Naruto and Hinata a ways off. Ignoring the large crowd, Deidara pointed his gun at them and fired until he ran out of shots, sending pedestrians screaming and running for cover.

Sasori appeared at his side, slapping the gun down. "That's enough, Deidara. You let your temper get the better of you, and now we've paid the price. If we don't leave now, the police will get to us before we can get to them."

Deidara scowled, but threw his arm down. As Hidan and Sasori took off running towards their car parked nearby, he watched Naruto's body get further and further away.

"You got lucky this time, kid, but you have no idea what you just got yourselves into, hn."

* * *

The only thing Hinata could hear was the sound of her own heart pounding and Naruto's ragged breath. He grunted ever now and then, but other than that remained silent. The moment he had gotten the chance, Naruto had turned into one of the smaller side streets, before disappearing down an alleyway. Hinata clung to his body, paralyzed.

He took another turn, and suddenly cried out, tripping over his own feet. He was falling to the ground, but even then Naruto was more concerned with Hinata's safety than his own, turning his body so that he took the impact from the ground instead of her.

"A-are you alright?" Hinata asked, lifting his head up as best he could. His breathing was getting quieter, and Hinata could finally see why.

A large red stain sat on the lower left side of his shirt, and it was growing larger by the second. In the scramble to get away, he must have been hit.

"You know…" he grunted, in between gasps for air, "I never got that name." He laughed in spite of everything.

"Everything's going to be fine! P-please, just h-hold on!" Hinata was an absolute mess. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and they mixed with sweat and stung her eyes. She was trying to pound a number into her cell phone, but the adrenaline was keeping her fingers from staying steady, and she was getting gradually more desperate.

"I'm Naruto, by the way."

She stopped, and her eyes quickly locked with his. They looked so calm, _he_ looked so calm. It was the kind of look that said that no matter what, everything was going to work out. Hinata couldn't explain it, but a feeling of calm washed over her, and she was able to steady her hands just as Naruto passed into unconsciousness.

He hated it when Kiba was right.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. If this is your first time checking this story out, maybe you haven't seen my main one, **Entwined by Love, Enslaved by Fate**. I hope you'll check it out!

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Hey! You're checking out my other story, which means you're a kickass person!

Anyway, I know this is still in its early stages, but I feel pretty excited about where the story will go from here, and I hope you will to. I think I'll put this in the NaruHina section for now, as the last two chapters have been revolved around them, until I can finally decide where the best place to stick this story is.

Until then, I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Chapter 3 - The 'Emergency Contact'**

The first thing Naruto could do was smell. He had always possessed a pretty sharp sense of smell, despite Kiba's best attempts to overpower it with massive amounts of cologne. Even in the state he was in, he knew it would be a while before his other senses came back to him, so he decided he might as well see what he could learn right off the bat.

Okay, let's see…rubbing alcohol. That sounds about right. He got shot, didn't he? It only made sense for the doctors to have rubbing alcohol. Clean up the wound and whatnot. What else? Uhhhh….something iron-like—more than likely dried blood. That made sense too, though he wondered why that hadn't been cleaned up yet.

But then a third scent caught his attention, and unlike the others, it made absolutely no sense.

Why the hell did he smell cinnamon rolls in the middle of the hospital? He racked his brain for any possible reason, but came up short every time. Guess he had to wait for his other senses to catch up with him.

Touch was next, but it didn't really help his confusion. He didn't feel like he was on a hospital bed or anything. They incline those, don't they? This felt a little lumpier, but it was still really comfortable. Maybe a couch or something? Whatever it was, it told Naruto that he was most likely _not_ in the hospital. But closing the door on that question only opened another, potentially worrying one:

Where the hell _was_ he?

And then just like that, his hearing came back to him. He heard a voice, male, not only a few inches away from his face. It scared him, because he knew Hinata was the only person he was with before he passed out.

"…hopefully he stays asleep until I'm finished with him…"

Well that didn't sound good. What if…what if Naruto had gotten caught by those thugs, and this voice was some secret doctor harvesting his organs!? Not if Naruto had anything to do with it!

Without any idea of where he would be going, or how he would escape, Naruto tried to leap off the couch. His lower body decided it didn't want to obey him, and so only his upper half shot up.

Straight into the face of whomever was standing above him.

"Augh, what the hell?" the voice cried out, clutching at his nose. Naruto tried to ignore the pain shooting up and down his body, and hobbled towards what he was sure was the front door. He heard the voice start to go after him, but Naruto was faster. He fumbled around for the doorknob, threw it open, and made his escape.

Straight into the broom closet.

"Ow..." Naruto muttered to himself, rubbing his sore—well, his sore everywhere. A basketball or something from the top shelf slowly rolled towards the edge, before landing onto the top of his head, adding a splitting headache to the growing list of problems.

"You're saying that _this_ idiot saved your life?" the voice asked. As Naruto lay there, his vision finally started to return, and he could see who just insulted him.

It was foggy at first, but Naruto could see that he was male, with brown hair nearly as long as Hinata's was. But he didn't pay much attention to him, once he saw a worried sick Hinata standing behind the stranger, holding a tissue she had clearly been using for a while.

"Oh, Naruto-san, are you alright?" she asked, hurrying over to help him up. The stranger stepped aside as Hinata knelt down in front of Naruto, shaking his head in amazement.

"I cannot believe you're up and around already. Most people would need to stay bedridden for at least a few days before they would have the strength to move around again."

Naruto chuckled to himself, letting the arm Hinata was pulling on drape around her shoulder. "I've always healed fast. Guess it comes in handy every now and then, huh?"

"I think learning to avoid getting shot would work better for you in the future." The man eyed Naruto carefully, watching his reaction. Just as he had expected, Naruto wasn't happy.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Those jerks were gonna hurt Hinata if I hadn't stepped in!"

"H-he's right, Neji-nīsan! Those men had guns! He saved m-my life!"

'Neji' didn't seem convinced. "Why didn't you call the police? They would have handled that better than you did. Running around in the middle of the street could have gotten an innocent bystander hurt."

"And we _weren't _innocent?" Naruto rebutted. "Just what exactly is your problem?"

He stepped forward, and the two glared at one another. Hinata didn't like this at all, and stepped in between them to try and diffuse the tension.

She started with Naruto. "Please, don't be angry with him, Naruto-san. This is my cousin Neji; he can be a little overprotective at times."

She turned to Neji. "And you should be a little nicer to Naruto-san. He saved my life for better or worse, and I had hoped you'd be a little nicer to him."

Neji pulled himself to his full height, looking like a peacock that just had his feathers rustled. But then his body seemed to relax, and slowly, he bowed in front of Naruto, keeping his eyes to the floor.

"Hinata is absolutely right. I would like to extend my apologies to you, Naruto-san. You saved my cousin's life, and I am in your debt for that."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. It was something he did when he was nervous or embarrassed. "Heh, don't worry about it! I was just glad I was able to help her out." He took a quick look around the room to get a better bearing of his surroundings, and several things sitting on the coffee table caught his eye.

"Is that—"

"That is what I used to remove the bullet, yes," Neji replied. "Because you ran in the direction you did, Hinata's apartment was closer than any hospital, and to give you the best chance, she called me to pick you up and drive you here."

"Are you some kind of doctor? Naruto asked, marveling at his luck.

Neji shook his head. "No, but I know a great deal from my father, who was. I may not be able to perform open-heart surgery, but I can handle my fair share of medical needs. You're just lucky that bullet didn't hit your liver or any other vital organ."

Lucky was right. Naruto patted where he felt the most bandages, and winced in pain. Yep, that was gonna be sore for a while. Hinata lead him towards the couch, and eased him onto his back to rest.

"Your name is Hinata, right?" Naruto asked, smiling at her in thanks. Hinata's cheeks flushed red, and her eyes immediately dropped to the floor.

"Y-yes, it is."

"I guess I'm in yours and your cousin's debt. You saved my life too!" Naruto's smile grew wider, and gave her a weak thumbs-up. Hinata mumbled a 'you're welcome', and pulled up a chair she had brought in from the kitchen to sit in and keep an eye on him.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto began. "Do you think you could fill me in on what happened after we got away? My memory's a little fuzzy on the details."

She was only too happy to oblige, and told the story as best she could, though she did need a little bit of calming down when she got to the part where Naruto stopped breathing midway to her house, and Neji had to pull over and turn the wheel over to Hinata while he resuscitated him. Naruto's eyes widened when he heard that, but he kept silent.

Maybe it was because she was nervous, but Hinata hadn't realized that she was _really_ getting into the details. She didn't leave out a thing, and by the time she finished her story with Naruto waking up, he was sleeping peacefully on the couch, long having been lulled to sleep.

"I think you went a little overboard, Hinata," Neji said, the ghost of a smile on his face. "But it's for the best. He can get some rest now."

He walked over to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let me apologize again. I'm sorry for my initial hostility towards Naruto-san. I was just worried about you, and took it out on him. That was my mistake."

Hinata smiled, shaking her head gently. "It's okay, Nii-san, really. I don't think Naruto-san holds it against you. "

Neji watched the young man sleep, giving him a curious look. "Yes, I think you're right. He seems like an odd fellow, but someone you can rely on." He relaxed his grip on Hinata's shoulder, and turned back to the coffee table to start cleaning everything up. "It will be about twenty minutes until Naruto-san's emergency contact shows up, according to what he told me. That amount of time will have to do for Naruto to get some rest."

Hinata craned her neck to watch Neji as he disappeared into the kitchen, curious. "Emergency contact? Who is it?"

Neji almost laughed. "I don't know, but I have a feeling Naruto will be just as surprised to see him as we will be. He had him listed in his phone as 'Crusty Old Pervert'.

* * *

As it turned out, Neji was way off base. It had been more than an hour since Neji had contacted this 'Crusty Old Pervert' person, and they hadn't heard anything sense. Hinata stayed by Naruto's side, keeping an eye on him, while Neji grew increasingly frustrated.

"Does this man think this is a joke!?" he muttered to himself. A trench was forming in the floor where he had been pacing, with the exception of checking on Naruto's condition. "I told him everything that happened, and he still hasn't shown up! Why did Naruto-san list this man as his emergency contact if he's this unreliable?"

Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "I d-don't know, Nii-san. Maybe something happened on his way here?"

"I highly doubt that. Once that man gets here, I swear I'll have a few words to say to him!"

Neji didn't have to wait much longer to get his wish. Not two minutes after he finished speaking, the doorbell rang, and Neji stalked over to give the man a piece of his mind. Once he opened the door, however, and got a good look at him, Neji decided it was best to keep his mouth shut.

The man must have been over 6 feet tall, an impressive size for someone who lived in the city. He looked to be somewhere in his mid 50's, and even though he had a smile on his face, there was a look in his eye that dared anyone to mess with him. He was dressed rather nicely, if you considered a flashy red sport coat and equally horrific floral print shirt underneath 'nice'.

He didn't even wait for Neji or Hinata to invite him inside, stepping past them to take a look around. Once he got a look at Naruto, he whistled.

"Man, that kid always manages to get himself in trouble, doesn't he?"

He finally realized what he was doing, and suddenly turned around to face his hosts.

"So sorry about my manners! Jiraiya, at your service, though I'd be surprised if you haven't heard of me already! Perhaps you've read one of my books? Some of them have even been made into movies, you know!"

Neji didn't seem the least bit impressed. "No, I'm afraid we have not. Perhaps they weren't airing them in theaters we were aware of."

Jiraiya laughed. "You've got that right, kid! I don't think they would even allow my work in theaters…" he muttered that last part, but Hinata could hear him, and her curiosity grew. She was about to ask him what he meant, but Jiraiya turned back to Naruto, sitting in the chair Hinata had been using.

Hinata watched his face soften as he looked at Naruto, watched his expression relax. She was almost touched by the scene, before Jiraiya ruined it by promptly clamping his hands over Naruto's mouth and nose, preventing him from breathing. Naruto didn't realize what was going on at first, but soon his eyes shot open and he started flailing his arms around, smacking Jiraiya in the face, who began laughing loudly as Naruto gasped for air.

"What the hell are _you _doing here?" Naruto demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the older man.

"Don't look at me, kid. These two called me over to check up on you." He grabbed ahold of Naruto's nose, and squeezed hard. "Apparently I'm still the 'Crusty Old Pervert' in your phone. I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"Ow, stop it! It hurts!"

Neji stepped forward, interrupting them. "Jiraiya-san, I called you over an hour ago. What on earth kept you this long?"

Jiraiya started giggling lecherously, and Neji was started to regret asking. His fears were confirmed when Naruto opened his mouth again.

"Perverted old bastard. You were probably too busy writing another one of your pornos, weren't you?"

Jiraiya seemed horribly offended, and leaped to his feet. "P-pornos? They're 'erotic novel's first off, and secondly, how dare you insult my work! They're bestsellers, if you've forgotten!"

No. You have got to be kidding. There is absolutely no way Naruto's emergency contact, someone who should be called WHEN IT IS AN EMERGENCY is a-

"Is this a joke?" Neji exclaimed, eyes bulging. "You mean to tell me that you're emergency contact, this Jiraiya, is a _pornographer_?"

"Hey, I object to that!"

Naruto grinned. "Yep! This guy's been looking out for me since I was a little kid! Good thing he hasn't rubbed off on me, though!"

Jiraiya scoffed. "Please. You're nearly as big of a pervert as I am! Maybe if you went out and got a girlfriend, I could use it for research and give you a cut of the profits."

"As if!" Naruto shot back, making a face. "Like I'd ever want to take part in those skeevy books of yours."

"Maybe you've forgotten how much those books have gotten you through?"

"I didn't say I wasn't grateful! Just that I wouldn't want to go into _that_ kind of business myself, that's all!"

"Excuse me!" Neji yelled, getting their attention. They both sheepishly looked at the floor, forgetting that they had an audience.

"Have you two already forgotten why you're here in the first place?" he asked, incredulously. "Need I remind you that you're here because Naruto was _shot_?"

And just like that, Jiraiya was all business. He sat back down at Naruto's side, folding his arms.

"Yeah, about that…I want you to tell me everything you know about what happened, even if it doesn't seem important. You think you can do that?"

Naruto nodded several times, and launched right into it. Everything from what his friend told him about those guys coming in before, which Hinata confirmed, to their overall behavior and demeanor. Jiraiya sat there without saying anything back, taking in all the information silently.

But then, something seemed to jump on his mind. "What did these guys look like? Did they have anything about their appearance that stood out?"

Naruto rolled his eyes up, thinking hard. "Uhhh, well there was three of them, and the main guy, who was trying to hurt Hinata and all, he had really long blonde hair, that went down to his back. Kind of like a ponytail, and a bunch of it went in front of his eye. Looked kind of like an emo or something."

Jiraiya nodded, but didn't say anything, letting Naruto continue.

"And the other two were kind of like his cronies, I guess. There was one who had red hair. He was really short and he looked bored all the time. And the third guy had grey hair slicked back. That guy swore a lot. Like, a _lot._"

"Do you remember anything different?" Jiraiya asked Hinata, who was standing nearby listening.

"Ummm, well no," she replied. "I was really scared, so I don't remember all that much. What Naruto-san is saying sounds like them though, if that helps…"

Judging from the look on Jiraiya's face, this wasn't good news. He leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

"Hinata—do you live here by yourself?"

She wasn't expecting that question, seeing as how it wasn't really relevant to what had happened. "Yes…but why is that important?"

"Just a thought," Jiraiya replied. He suddenly got to his feet, and punched a number into his phone. Before Hinata or Neji or Naruto could try and hear who was on the other end, he walked out into the hall, and shut the door behind him.

Naruto pouted for a second, his curiosity eating at him, but it wasn't long before he figured he could satisfy another question that had been bugging him.

"Hey, Hinata—did you say you actually live here by yourself?"

Hinata nodded shyly. "Y-yes, I do. Neji-niisan comes over to visit every now and then to check up on me, but other than that, I'm usually by myself."

"Why would you want to do that?" Naruto pressed, ignoring the raised voices coming from outside the apartment. "You have your cousin, and you have your parents, right?"

She nodded again. "I also have a sister, but I have my reasons for wanting to be by myself. Really, it's not that much trouble. My father covers most of the bills, and I'm saving up as much money as I can from my job to go to college."

Naruto seemed intrigued, and sat up in on the couch despite his condition. "Really? That sounds awesome! What do you want to do at college?"

"I don't think this is the time for a meet-and-greet," Neji butted in. "There are more important things to worry about right now than what Hinata wishes to do with her future."

Naruto shot Neji another angry look, but did as he suggested, and dropped the issue. It was actually Hinata that more upset than Naruto was, as Neji had just ruined a perfectly good opportunity to get to know Naruto better. She would have a few words to say to him once this was all said and done.

But then, Jiraiya walked back into the room, his face completely blank.

"Alright. I've gotten everything settled. Naruto, we can leave anytime you're ready."

"Wait, what? Just like that? What about Hinata and Neji and stuff?" Naruto asked. He had gone to all the trouble of helping Hinata out. He certainly didn't want this to be their one meeting. Sure, it had been an _odd_ circumstance that led them to meet one another, but Naruto would take it over nothing.

"I've taken care of everything, kid. C'mon, what's the one thing you can count on from me?" Jiraiya gave Naruto his best smile, and you could practically hear the glint in his shining white teeth.

Naruto was not amused. "If you mean for you to make a complete ass out of yourself, you're right. I can certainly count on you to do that."

"WHY YOU LITTLE SHIT! SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"

Jiraiya, now acting like no more than a child, starting chasing Naruto around the room, who seemed to delight in the chase. He took advantage of the man's advanced age, and when he got a free minute, he ran straight up to Hinata.

"Hey, so you think we could maybe go out for ramen sometime?"

Hinata blinked.

"I know this really great place down near my place. Trust me, you'll love it."

Hinata blinked again.

Naruto had to wait for an answer, because Jiraiya suddenly reappeared, and the chase was reinitiated. Neji, who had very little patience with the duo in the first place, could no longer take it, and joined in after the two, yelling at them to stop making so much noise.

And in the center of it all, Hinata stood there in complete shock. Naruto had been shot, she had nearly been attacked, and out of all the things on his mind, he wanted to ask her out? _He_ wanted to ask _her _out.

How flattering.

Neji broke off from the chase, and headed towards the door. He threw it open, and pointed outside.

"The both of you, out of here, now!"

Naruto was only too happy to oblige, racing towards the key to his freedom. But as he flew past Hinata, he saw her arm reach out with something in hand. His own hand shot out, and he grabbed onto it before he was out the door, with Jiraiya hot on his tail.

He took a free moment when the old man was catching his breath to take a look at what Hinata had given him, and his heart did a backflip when he saw several numbers hastily scrawled onto the scrap of paper.

Looks like he needed to find a day for their date.

Phone number in hand, and a smile on his face, Naruto Uzumaki raced down the stairs and out the building, despite the grievous injury inflicted upon his person. Maybe it was because he healed fast like he so claimed, or maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through him, but it was the last thing on his mind. Jiraiya chased him down the street, this time yelling at him to stop before they got too far away from his car.

* * *

Neji was watching the chaos unfold from the window, shaking his head.

"Honestly, grown men acting like children…"

But he heard a sound from behind him, and he whipped around to find Hinata giggling uncontrollably.

"Oh, don't tell me you were actually entertained by that display of childish behavior!?"

Hinata couldn't stop laughing long enough to reply, so she nodded her head several times instead. Why would she be laughing? Not a few hours ago, she was having the worst day of her life, and now here she was standing in the middle of her small apartment, laughing like a little girl.

Naruto had that effect on people.

* * *

Every city has its places to be avoided, places where the crime rate is just high enough for the general public to go out of their way and avoid it if they can.

This was not the case for where Hidan, Sasori, and Deidara were going. The best way to describe this district of the city would be 'evil'. The entire population seemed to have a lengthy criminal record, and going out at night meant you would be the victim, accomplice, or witness of at least one crime. But they were used to it. To them it was home.

"Why the fuck did you have to go and piss the boss off?" Hidan shouted, flipping around a butterfly knife he got off the body of some gang-banger. "People call _me_ the crazy one, and you had to go and whip your gun out in the middle of broad fucking daylight!"

Deidara rolled his eyes. "You would have done the same thing in my position, hn! That girl had the gall to insult me, and you think I was just going to let her get away with that. And then that blonde kid got in the way, and now the two of them are alive! I _hate_ it when people who insult me are alive."

"Yes, you've said so. Over forty times, now." Sasori was clearly mocking Deidara, but the blonde was in too bad of a mood to notice. He went on and on about the many ways he would kill those two brats, while he and his two companions disappeared inside an abandoned building, which had been condemned for several years.

A rat crawled across the ground, and Deidara kicked it out of the way, watching it scurry into the wall. He sneered, but a figure at the end of the hall captured his attention.

The figure was incredibly gaunt, and even from this distance, they could see his yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. Zetsu, the boss' right hand man. Suffered from dissociative personality disorder, liked to talk to himself, or as he claimed, to his other half.

"Well well well, look who decided to show up!" he jeered, giggling to himself. "Get inside. You've made him wait long enough." That time his voice had dropped to a raspy whisper, and it was much less friendly.

Deidara snorted, but did as Zetsu told, crossing down the hall to where he was waiting. The door swung open, and Deidara walked inside. He didn't even notice that Sasori and Hidan didn't follow him, and the door swung shit before he could do anything about. Suddenly he was starting to feel a little nervous. Deidara_ never _got nervous.

"It's good to see you, Deidara." There was a voice coming from the other side of the room, but before Deidara could reply, someone behind him roughly shoved him into a chair that was standing in front of him, holding him fast with two massive hands.

"Now, do you want to tell me exactly why there were over twenty witnesses calling in a shooting in broad daylight, with descriptions matching _your_ appearance?"

It wasn't a question he wanted an answer for. Deidara knew that whatever answer he would give, it wouldn't be good enough. So he stayed silent.

"I didn't think so. Well, I just felt the need to bring you here, of all places, to tell you that this could potentially cause massive setbacks for us. You know how I feel about setbacks, don't you?"

The hands gripping Deidara's shoulders tightened their grip, and sharp nails started digging into his skin. He wanted to answer, but his gut told him not to. Smart move.

The voice began to move around him, first on his left, before suddenly appearing directly behind him, right behind his ear. "Do you know why I brought you into this organization, Deidara? I brought you here because you worked well with your hands, at a skill I found to be most valuable."

The voice returned to the back of the room, and it lost its amused tone. "And that skill is the only reason you're still alive. If I had my way, your corpse would be rotting in a gutter on the other side of the city. Do I make myself understood?"

Deidara nodded, probably more times than he needed to.

"Good. That's good to hear, Deidara. However, I can't just let your idiotic behavior go unpunished. I have to make an example out of you, to remind the others what happens when you let something, in this case your insufferable temper, get in the way of my plan. _Our_ plan."

Deidara was paying so much attention to the voice, that he hadn't noticed the hands that had been holding him down had tied his arms to the chair he was sitting in.

"What the hell is this?" Deidara finally found his voice, but he regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth. He couldn't see the man, but he could almost _hear_ him sneering in the dark.

"A reminder." That was all the answer Deidara was going to get, as another door opened, and the owner of the voice quickly disappeared inside.

Deidara heard the distinctive flip of a knife, and craned his neck to find Hidan standing behind him, smirking.

"What? You gonna cut me lose?" Deidara asked. A single bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Hidan licked the edge of the blade, and laughed. "Not exactly. Boss wants to see how well you work with your hands when you only got one of 'em. No hard feelings, right Blondie?"

The rest of the organization was spread out in the building, going about their own business, but they knew they were being reminded of their loyalty nonetheless. The screaming took care of that.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry you'll have to wait a little bit longer to meet the rest of the Biju, but in the meantime, if you haven't checked out my main story, **Entwined by Love, Enslaved by Fate**, I hope you'll check it out!

Until next time, and I hope you have a Happy Halloween!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Yeesh, has it really been more than a month since I last updated this story? Well, I saw a couple of people who recently added it to their alert list, and that spurred me on to pump this chapter out for you guys. I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Taking Up a New Residence**

There's nothing quite like the city at night. The hottest clubs are flooded with restless youths, wild parties erupt across the entire city…it comes _alive_. The beat of the music becomes a heartbeat, and air is filled with life.

And Shukaku couldn't give two shits about any of it. Give him a hooker and a 6-pack, you'd have one happy man. But no, instead of hookers and alcohol, he was stuck in a smelly van with no air conditioning.

"This is bullshit," he complained, banging his head against the passenger seat. "Why did I agree to come here? The whole van smells like man-ass."

"Whose fault is that?" Kurama asked, watching something through a pair of binoculars. "You're the one who brings strippers back here every other weekend. We drew straws to see who got stuck with coming with, and everyone knows your luck is shit."

Shukaku burped. "Says the man who hasn't gotten himself some in _months_, " he mocked. "You know, this van is big enough for the two of us."

"If you think I'd share this P.O.S with you for cheap sex…" Kurama broke away from whatever he was looking at, and glared at his partner. Shukaku started to laugh; his ample body heaved the van up and down.

"Will you knock it off? We're tryin' to maintain a low profile here."

Shukaku looked offended. "Well _excuse_ me for trying to entertain the two of us! I've been sitting here scratching my own ass for two hours now! Why don't you let me look in them binoculars for a while?"

"Again, trying to maintain a low profile. You would just start looking up girls' skirts with these. You're here to keep me awake, because trust me, you're not the only who's fucking bored right now."

"Hahah, well you got me there!" Shukaku chuckled. "But for my sake, how about you remind me why we're sitting in a run-down old van in the middle of the night?"

Kurama pointed in front of him. A car slowly pulled to a stop, across the street from them in front of an apartment complex. Kurama watched shadows move in the car, before it drove a little further down the road. The lights turned off, and several men stepped outside.

"That's why."

* * *

Hinata couldn't sleep. Having such a tight budget prevented her from finding a place with less noise at all hours of the night, but usually she was able to drown it out to get some sleep. This night was different. She hadn't felt like sleeping all night, and after a couple hours, rolled out of bed to make herself a warm glass of milk and take a sleeping pill.

The window in her kitchen glowed from the flashing lights of nightclub. Every now and then, she could hear the beat of the music. Even the darkest drapes couldn't hold back all the light and sound of the city's nightlife.

Hinata sighed. She had an early shift tomorrow, and if this pill took too long to work, she would be sluggish all morning. When she was sluggish, she didn't make as much in tips, and the less she made in tips, the longer it would take for her to save up enough money for college.

Her father never understood why she insisted on paying her own way. Why waste your time, he would say, when I could put you through the finest private university in the entire world?

It felt like cheating. Hinata had been given things her entire life. She wanted to _earn_ something, and if that meant spending a few years bussing tables and bringing hipsters their cappuccinos, so be it.

She heard a car outside pull to a stop just before the microwave beeped several times, telling her her milk had finished heating up. Hinata took a small sip, and relished the warmth that spread through her body. She was just about to pop the pill into her mouth, when she heard a noise.

Neji often called her paranoid; when they were children, she swore she heard noises when they were playing, and Neji would insist she was only hearing things. Most of the time he had been right, but Hinata had never shaken the habit.

She stood from the table, craning her neck to hear better. She heard the sound again, and her heart stopped.

Someone was trying to get into the house.

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the mug; it had nearly fallen from her hands, which would have confirmed her presence. Her eyes darted to the phone; she needed to call the police before it was too late.

But the door started to open, and Hinata's heart leaped in fear. She rushed over to the closet where the water heater was kept, and shut the door behind her just as the front door slammed open.

She heard footsteps; it was more than one person. Hinata covered her mouth, fearing they could hear her breathe.

"Pretty nice place for one girl living alone," a voice said.

"Pretty good security, you mean," another voice answered. "They got cameras all up and down this place. Quit flapping that shithole you call a mouth and start looking for her."

"It's three in the fucking morning!" the first voice complained. "She's just gonna be in the bedroom. Why don't you go and look while I make myself something to eat? A sandwich, maybe!"

Hinata froze. The first voice stepped closer to where she was hiding, right outside the door. She closed her eyes; this had to be a nightmare.

The second voice snorted. "Fine. I hope you choke on it." More footsteps turned down the hallway towards Hinata's room.

"Let's see what we got here…" she heard the first voice mutter to himself. He started to nose through the fridge, trying to find something to eat. Through the spaces in the door, Hinata could see him set down some mustard and ketchup, as well as a container of lunch meat.

"Can't make me a sammich without bread…" he said to himself, turning around.

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. He took a step closer to where she was hiding, and then another, and another. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Hold on now…" The footsteps had stopped.

Hinata peeked through the door to see the first man looking at the mug of warm milk she had left on the table, as well as the sleeping pill. He stared at it for a few seconds, before dipping his finger in. She heard a deep exhale through his nose.

"Hey, come in here for a sec!" she heard the second voice say. The man lifted his attention away from the milk, and grumbled something under his breath before leaving the kitchen to meet with his partner.

Hinata's heart pounded in her chest. They were going to find out that she wasn't in her bed, and then they might leave! But what if they searched through the rest of the apartment? Her mind raced, trying to decide what she was going to do.

The footsteps were coming back, and instinct kicked in. The door flew open, and she raced towards the front door. If she could just get outside, she could call for help, or something…

"GOT YA!"

A large arm shot out in front of her, holding her fast. She did the only thing she could think of at that point.

Scream.

"Oh shit! She's gonna wake up entire block!" one man said, covering her hand with her mouth. She struggled against his grip with all of her strength, but the man was built like a bear.

"We'll just take her down the fire escape. You think you can keep her quiet?"

The man holding her laughed. "Don't you worry about nothing. I've got her.

They dragged her back down the hallway into the bathroom, where the window leading to the fire escape was. The first man broke the window without a second thought, and stepped outside. Hinata heard him grunt, and a loud crash.

"Throw her down to me!" she heard him yell. The man holding her pushed her towards the window, letting her go out first. The moment she got free, Hinata tried to run up the fire escape to another floor, but the man's arm was quicker than her, and grabbed onto her before she could get away.

As he yanked her back, Hinata got a good look at the man. He was grossly overweight, with stained clothes that smelled absolutely awful. He leaned in close, and she could smell his breath.

"Don't cry, girl. Baby bird's gotta leave the nest sometime."

He pushed her backwards, and she tumbled off the fire escape, shrieking. The ground rushed up to meet her, but the first man caught her before she hit the ground. It hurt, but it hurt less than landing on the ground would have.

This man was taller and built like a tank, from what Hinata could see. She should have screamed, now that she was in the open, but her voice caught in her throat as the man dragged her towards an unmarked van.

He threw open the door, and tossed her inside. The door shut, and she heard the door lock again. The sound was terrifying to Hinata, and tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Now look what you did!" the fat man complained. "If she's gonna be bawling all the way home, I'm gonna need some compensation!"

His partner swore at him while he climbed into the driver's seat. He turned around to look at Hinata, and strangely enough, she felt a little calmer.

"Everything's gonna be alright, girl. We're not gonna hurt you."

Hinata finally found her courage. "Wh-what are you going to d-do to me?"

The man chuckled. "Do to you? Look girl, we're not those kinds of people. We're here to save your life."

Hinata almost laughed. Two men, breaking into her home and scaring her half to death, were trying to help her?

"I can see you need some convincing. You see that car across the way?"

Hinata nodded.

"Well, those were other people who were looking for you. Except instead of saving you…"

He paused, and Hinata wondered where he was going with this. But then, her apartment suddenly exploded into a torrent of flames, shattering the other windows are fire began to pour out of them.

Kurama turned around in his seat, and smiled at her. "Believe me now?"

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, Naruto Uzumaki was buried into one of his video games. Jiraiya had been unusually receptive to Naruto's insistence that he was well enough to go home. Naruto had called Kiba earlier that night, inviting him to join him, and the two good friends had wasted away the night with pizza, sports, and all other manner of manly things. It was almost 3:30 in the morning, and neither of them were the least bit tired.

Kiba stole another glance at Naruto's side. He could see the bandages from underneath his shirt.

"I told you 5 times already, it doesn't hurt," Naruto insisted, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Kiba took another swig of his beer (which he had brought along for himself; Naruto hated the taste of alcohol). "I still can't believe that you risked your life for some girl you barely know. She's cute and all, but you really went all out, didn't you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess so. I just had this good feeling about her. And hey, I got a phone number out of it, didn't I?"

He pointed to his fridge, where Hinata's hastily scrawled digits were pinned to with a magnet. They were his pride and joy, Naruto would say; a daily reminder of his heroic deed.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're _real_ chivalrous. Why haven't you called her yet if you had such a good feeling about her?"

"You can't call that soon after you get her number!" Naruto said. "I gotta wait a couple days at least. If I play hard to get, that'll just make me even sexier!"

Kiba made a face, got up, and went to the kitchen for another beer. If Naruto was gonna keep bragging about his date, he would need to be good and liquored up.

He grabbed his ice cold beverage, and shut the door. A loud crash sounded out, and Kiba squinted in confusion. That hadn't been the fridge, had it? He opened and closed it again to test it out, and this time it sounded completely normal. Shrugging his shoulders, Kiba turned around.

The front door had been kicked in. Naruto stared with wide eyes as two men stood in the entryway. One was holding a can of gasoline; the other, a crowbar.

Kiba didn't waste a second thought. He put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled as loud as he could. A horrible growling came from the bedroom, and seconds later, Kiba's dog Akamaru appeared, baring his massive teeth at the two intruders.

Naruto used to joke that Akamaru's parents were some kind of bear. The dog was absolutely massive, much larger than usual. A gentle giant most of the time, Akamaru could become incredibly dangerous should Kiba egg him on.

He suddenly charged at the two men. His teeth sunk into the first man's arm, and he cried out in pain. He tried to shake the dog off, but Akamaru's grip was far too tight.

The second man stepped forward, and delivered a cruel kick to Akamaru's stomach. When the dog released his partner, he clubbed him across the head with the crowbar, and Akamaru crumpled into a heap on the floor.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba yelled in fear. He would have rushed to his friend's aid had the two men not stepped in between them.

Naruto's blood was pumping, which aggravated his injury. He searched for his cell phone, before cursing his habit of leaving it in his pants pocket, which he left in his bedroom.

The two men stepped forward, sneering. While one of them opened the can of gasoline, and started to spread it on the floor, the other approached Naruto and Kiba, crowbar raised above his head.

"NOT ON MY WATCH, BIAAATCH!"

The man spun around to see a fist flying towards his face at surprising speed. The poor thug didn't have any time to react before the fist connected with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"OHHHHH. YOU JUST GOT SHIT ON! HOW YOU LIKE THAT?"

A third man had rushed into Naruto's apartment, and it was now clear that he was not with the other two. He was a dark-skinned man, with long black hair braided into 8 dreadlocks. Tattoo's covered his body from head to toe, and despite it being in the middle of the night, he was wearing sunglasses.

He hopped from either foot, like a boxer, as he stood over the man he had just beaten the shit out of two seconds ago.

The other man swore under his breath, pulling a match from his pocket. He threw it onto the gasoline, and a massive fire started to spread across Naruto's back wall and couch. He turned his attention to the dark-skinned stranger, and charged in.

The stranger smiled. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, motherfucka!" In one fluid motion, he ducked underneath the man's punch, spun around, and brought his knee straight into his gut. The man almost immediately coughed out some blood, and tried to hit the stranger again. He missed widely to the left, and the stranger grabbed onto his arm and smashed his elbow into it, breaking the bones like a twig. The man howled in pain, before falling to the floor with his companion.

The stranger spat on the two bodies as the fire began to spread. His face hardened, and he stood up straight.

"You ain't gon' be safe around here anymore. That old Pervert told us to come get you and keep you safe, and that's what we gon' do."

He turned to Kiba. "You one cool mothafucka, you know that? Get that dog to attack these assholes n' shit. Now, they ain't gonna be looking for you; Blondie's the only one they're after, so you just need to go back to your place."

Kiba and Naruto shared a look. "After? Just what the hell is going on? Naruto, did you do something I don't know about?"

The man grabbed onto Kiba's and Naruto's arm, and started pushing them towards the door. "Ya'll two can start sucking each other's dicks later, aight? Right now we need to get'chu outta here 'fore the place burns to the ground."

Naruto struggled against the man's grip. It wasn't much, but this place was his _home_. But the dark-skinned man held him firm.

"Just let it go, man. Your life's worth more than any of this is."

He took one last look at his apartment, before letting the stranger push him out the door. He went back inside to scoop up Akamaru, making the massive hound look like a puppy, before he, Kiba, and Naruto raced outside before the fire spread any further.

"The fire department's been called; you ain't gotta worry about anyone else getting hurt," the man said as they raced across the street. He pointed to Kiba's car. "That's yours, ain't it? You need to take that and get out of here, before anyone decides that you're worth hunting down too."

Kiba nodded wordlessly. It was all he could do. The man carried Akamaru to Kiba's car, and laid him down in the backseat. As Kiba's car groaned to life, the stranger hurried Naruto to a van waiting across the street. He threw open the passenger door, shoved Naruto inside, and hurried over to the driver's side before they sped off away, as Naruto's apartment continued to burn.

* * *

They had been driving for hours. Naruto had fallen asleep twice. The stranger had even stopped for a cheeseburger, pulling the drive-through like nothing was wrong, and Naruto _didn't_ just lose his house.

It had been eating at him all night, and Naruto finally couldn't take it anymore. "What the hell are we doing? Those men tried to kill me, and you're acting like nothing's wrong?"

The man held up his hand as he finished the last of his burger. "First off Blondie, you never thanked me fo' saving yo' ass. Second, those men weren't trying to kill you."

"What do you mean they weren't trying to kill me?" Naruto demanded. "They burned my house down!"

The stranger shook his head. "They weren't trying to kill you. Hell, if they wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Nah, they just wanted to send us a message: we know where you live, and we _are_ coming after ya."

He grinned at Naruto. "Now, if dey catch you, they'd probably kill you then. They just weren't gon' do it back there. Nah, you pissed 'em off somethin' good. They'd want to play with ya a little first."

Naruto looked horrified. "Okay, so they want to torture me, _then_ kill me. Why aren't we going somewhere safe?"

"If you'd been payin' attention, you'd have seen that we were tailed by at least tree other cars on the way. I needed to shake 'em off before we go home."

He pointed down the road. "Which is right over here, by the way."

They pulled into an alleyway, and the van creaked to a stop. The stranger motioned for Naruto to follow him inside through a side door.

From what Naruto could see, the place was pretty run down, even more so than his own apartment. Several of the windows were boarded up, and it smelled liked…well, let's just say it smelled bad.

"It don't look like much, but it's got it where it counts," the stranger said as he opened the door and stepped inside. Naruto followed shortly after him. He was inside a kitchen, and he was _very _surprised to see who was sitting inside.

"Hinata!"

Hinata looked up, and her face visibly brightened. "Oh, Naruto-san! Are you alright?"

Naruto nodded. "I'm fine, but my apartment…"

"Mine too. If it weren't for these two gentlemen, I d-don't know if I'd be here." She gestured behind him, and Naruto turned around to thank the two who saved Hinata's life. One of them sat in an armchair, built like a tank, and chomping on a cigar. The other sat on the floor, munching on some fries.

Looks like they weren't the only ones who had stopped for a late-night snack.

"You two are lucky to be alive," a woman's voice from behind Naruto said. She was holding a cup of tea, which she gave to Hinata. She turned to Naruto. "Would you like anything?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head. He had a lot on his mind right now.

The woman seemed to understand. "You must have a lot of questions about what's going on. Here, why don't you have a seat?"

Naruto gratefully accepted, taking a chair next to Naruto.

"Your friend Jiraiya has asked us to help protect you and Hinata, Naruto," the woman said. "My name is Matatabi, and sitting on their asses is Kurama and Shukaku. They were the ones who picked up Hinata."

Kurama grunted as a greeting, and Shukaku laughed. "Honey, I don't think asked is the best way to describe it. The perverted bastard is paying us a butt-load of money to watch over you!"

Naruto turned to Matatabi. "You guys are bodyguards?"

"Sort of. Just think of us as a _private _security company. You two will stay here until everything settles down, okay?"

She craned her neck to talk to Kurama. "Call the others down here, will you? We owe it to our guests to introduce ourselves."

Kurama swore underneath his breath, but relented to the woman's request. He stomped over the stairs, and yelled as loud as he could.

"ROLL CALL! GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE, OR YOU WON'T EAT FOR A WEEK!"

Naruto could hear several other people moving around upstairs. Just how many people lived here? Was this like some kind of boarding house?"

The dark-skinned man, who had been quiet until now, stuck his arm out for Naruto. "Yeah, we got a lot of people livin' here. The name's Gyūki."

"He's an old partner of Kurama's," Matatabi explained, as Naruto shook the man's hand. "We're all…different in our own ways, but I promise you you'll be comfortable."

Naruto heard people stomping down the stairs, and turned his attention back to the living room. Three other people had come downstairs, looking thoroughly pissed off. Evidently, Kurama had either woken them up or disturbed them.

The first of the three was a thin, reedy man who looked like he might fall over if a breeze caught him. He had long, white hair fashioned in a loose ponytail, and looked like he was the only one who had been sleeping.

Second was a girl that couldn't have been more than a few years older than Naruto or Hinata. She had multiple piercings: three in each ear, one over her left eyebrow, and a stud embedded in the right side of her nose. She didn't seem too upset that she had been dragged downstairs, and offered a happy smile and wave to their newest guests.

The third outright gave Naruto the creeps. He was relatively thin, but sweaty. The trip down the stairs seemed to take a lot out of him, as he was breathing heavily through his mouth. In his hand, a half empty sake bottle swished around as he impatiently tapped his foot.

Kurama spread his arms. "You're looking at the best team in the city, brats. There ain't no job too big or too hard for us to handle."

He slapped Shukaku on the back, making him spill the drink he had been chugging all over the front of his shirt.

"We're the Bijū 9, and we're here to make sure you don't get killed."

* * *

**Author's Note:** So you finally got a look at some of the other members of the team! I wonder if you can guess which of the three tailed beasts Kurama introduced, as well as who's missing?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you ever have something you want to say, don't hesitate to do so! Even if it's just a ruthless flame, I still take every opinion into account.

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I apologize that this story isn't updated nearly as often as the others. Hopefully, that'll change for a while. Until then, how about we just get to it? For those who guessed at who came downstairs, you'll have your answer!

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Roll Call**

"You," Naruto repeated. "You're here to make sure me and Hinata don't get killed?"

Kurama grinned. "Yep. Trust me kid, there's no—"

"Well, that's it for me! It was nice being alive and all, but I guess I won't need to worry about that for much longer! I won't get to go on a date with a nice girl, or travel across the world or—"

Matatabi smacked Naruto across the back of his head with a wooden spoon, glaring at him. "Now, don't go making any assumptions about them! I promise you, there's no one else in the entire city better equipped to keep you safe."

Naruto rubbed the sore spot, cursing. "Yeah well, forgive me if I don't have too high an opinion for a grandpa, some fifteen year old, and some guy who sweats more than a whore in a church."

Hinata covered her mouth. "Na-Naruto-san!"

The sweaty man chuckled joylessly. "Trust me, we don't have that high of an opinion of you either, you fucking brat."

Naruto rolled a sleeve up. "What was that? You wanna fight, asshole?"

"You mean do _you_ want to get your ass kicked up and down the street? Than hell yeah I do!"

Kyūbi flicked his cigar at the man, dotting the fabric with the ashes. The man swore and rubbed as much of it off his shirt as he could, and glared at Kurama.

"He's our guest, Saiken. You'll get your chance to prove him wrong soon enough, but for right now, just shut the hell up. I'm not in the mood to listen to you complaining right now."

Saiken spat on the floor, taking another swig of the sake he held. "You're lucky Kurama likes you, you little shit."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the foul man, but after that, didn't give him much attention. Kurama counted the three several times before he realized something was amiss.

"I swear, if that little prick doesn't get his scrawny ass down here in the next ten seconds…" he stomped over to an intercom, mashing the button with one massive finger.

"Would you get your ass down here?" he yelled. "I said roll call, if I remember correctly."

"That's the first time your memory's been right in weeks," a voice shot back as it crackled to life. "I'm fine up here, thank you. I can see our new guests perfectly find on the monitor."

Hinata noticed a reflection in the corner of her eyes, and when she traced it across the room, she saw a video camera hiding in the corner, adjusting its picture to get a better view of the two newcomers. Hinata unknowingly scooted closer to Naruto, suddenly feeling vulnerable. Naruto himself, did not notice.

Kurama grunted, shaking his head. "I don't care if you're fine up there. You'll get down here right now, or I'll come up there and—"

"Would you leave him be?" Matatabi insisted, groaning. "You know he'll fight you tooth and nail if you try to drag him out of that room."

"Listen to the woman," the voice said. "She's got a good brain on her shoulders, that one."

"Fine. Have it your way," Kurama sighed. "I'll just spit in your food for the next few weeks." He heard an earnestly terrified gasp on the other side of the intercom, but pressed the button before the voice could respond.

"Listen kid—maybe you'd feel better if we introduce ourselves. How about that?"

Naruto shrugged, and Hinata sat down, pulling down on Naruto's arm for him to join her.

Kurama pointed to Saiken. "This is Saiken. Not the best with strangers, but his information network across the city is unmatched, even for the top brass in organized crime. Whores, barkeeps, security guards…if you can think of it, Saiken probably knows someone with some helpful information. Maybe he's not pretty to look at, but that's not really important, now is it?"

He moved down to the girl. "Her name is Chōmei, and if you're thinking about underestimating her because of her size, you're liable to end up with a split lip, flat out on your ass."

Chōmei smiled at Naruto. "You want someone who can get in and get out without anyone raising an alarm, I'm your girl. I've also been known to take down guys three times my size." To help illustrate, she flexed, and Naruto was surprised to see the toned muscles bulge out of her skin.

"Infiltration, we like to call it. She bugs phones, cameras…hell, she could put a bug up a guy's ass while he's on the crapper if she wanted to."

Matatabi rolled her eyes at the disgusting image. Shukaku only laughed.

The last person down the line didn't even wait for Kurama to get to him. He bowed politely, with a yawn. "And I am Kokuō. I apologize if I looked none too pleased by your arrival, but try to remember that it's in the middle of the night."

Naruto smiled nervously. "Yeah, uhh….sorry about that."

"Got a way with words, doesn't he?" Kurama asked, polishing his knuckles. "If there's someone we need to _warm _up to, Kokuō's the best man for the job. After all, who would distrust a poor, elderly old man? This son-of-a-bitch is damn good with a butterfly knife, too."

Naruto didn't even see the blade until Kokuō was throwing it up into the air with one hand, catching it perfectly each time without needed to look at it. Naruto winced every time the blade looked like it might stab his hand, but every time he was surprised when deft fingers latched onto the handle with no trouble at all.

Next, Kurama moved back to the intercom. "Introduce yourself."

The intercom buzzed and crackled as it the speaker tried to work, but eventually the voice came back through. "My name is Isobu. And that's all you need to know."

"No, it ain't." Kurama turned to Naruto. "He's our eye in the sky. Our hacker. The one-man geek squad. We'll have control over any electronic security measures when we want them, and if there's a file that needs to be ours, he'll have it on your desk by the end of the day."

"Really Kurama, you're making me blush up here," Isobu said, laughing. "But one man geek squad? Really? I could out-hack those plebeians any day of the week with a calculator. In fact, I—"

Kurama mashed his finger on the button again, shutting him up. "He's also got a stick so far up his ass, it's hard to hold a decent conversation with him before he gets to talking about himself and how wonderful he is."

"I heard that," Isobu's muffled voice came through. Kurama ignored him. He walked back into the kitchen, where Matatabi stood cleaning up some of the left out groceries, and Gyūki leaned against the wall, silent.

"Me and him go way back," Kurama explained pointing at Gyūki. "He's saved my ass more times than I count when we used to work together."

"Where did he used to work?" Naruto whispered to Matatabi.

"Don't ask," she muttered back.

"He's a hand-to-hand expert. That bullshit you hear about not bringing a knife to a gunfight? Yeah, that doesn't really apply to him. He can beat a man senseless before he even has time to reload."

Gyūki smiled. "You know me, man. I'm just doing my job. Shame my job means saving yo' ass more often than not."

"You saved _all_ of us at one point or another," Matatabi said, thanking him with a pat on the shoulder. "Trust me, we're all grateful."

"And this lovely lady here," Kurama said, sliding over to Matatabi, "Is the glue that holds our merry little band together. She's feisty, but she can be sweet if you're patient."

Matatabi smiled. "Hard pressed for that when I have to put up with you all the time."

"She used to be a cat burglar, before we met," Kurama explained, folding his arms. "I caught in the act stealing something from a client we were paid to protect. Keeping his shit safe wasn't part of the deal, so I let her walk, not without getting her phone number first, of course."

"I tossed you around that room like a ragdoll for fifteen minutes before I let you get near me," Matatabi remembered, punching Kurama on the arm. "You're lucky I had just made such a huge score, or you would have left with more than a few bruises."

Kurama grimaced. "More than a few bruises my ass. I was lucky you didn't kill me. Still, Persistence helps with the ladies, even if you're after something they're not expecting. After we finished that job, I offered her a place here with us. She still gets to do what she does best, but she doesn't have to break the law to do it."

Matatabi glared at him.

"Well…she doesn't break the law _most _of the time. Maybe when it's necessary."

There was a foul stench coming from the living room, and everyone peeked inside to see Shukaku laughing his ass off, while the others covered their noses or ran back upstairs. Kurama rolled his eyes, slapping his palm against his forehead.

"So…who is that?" Naruto asked, pointing at him.

Shukaku jumped to his feet, nearly tripping over the coffee table and knocking over a container of Chinese food. "Allow me to introduce myself, Blondie! The name's Shukaku, and there's not a sweeter, kinder, gentler soul you'll ever find in this shithole!"

_Everyone_ rolled their eyes, and Shukaku feigned offense. "Oh, come on now! You guys love me! Hell, I thought I was the glue that held you together, not Sweet-cheeks over there!"

Matatabi suddenly had a knife in her hand, tossing it casually into the air. "What was that?" she asked. "It sounded like you were telling everyone how wonderful of a person I am."

Shukaku laughed. "Oh, to be sure! You're one in a million!"

Kurama pulled Naruto to his side with one massive arm. "Yes, this asshole isn't lying. His name is Shukaku, and to be honest, I don't know why we still keep him around here."

"For my dashing good lucks?" Shukaku asked.

"Fuck that."

"For my beautiful singing voice?"

"I've heard meth heads with better pipes than you."

Shukaku waved his arms in front of him. "Okay, okay, I got it…for the pleasure of my company! That's gotta be it!"

"Because you're good with a bomb," Gyūki said, annoyed with the arguing. "Maybe a little bit of a pyromaniac, but that's never been my problem."

Kurama snapped his fingers together, as if he had only just remembered. "That's it! Plus, he does other odd jobs. Plumbing, fixing the cable when it goes out, getting us dinner. I guess he's like the son we never wanted, running around town doing the jobs we hate doing."

"I'm at your service!" Shukaku said happily, rolling with the punches and bowing for his guests. "If there's anything or anyone, I don't judge, blown up, just let me know!"

Hinata forced a smile, despite his horrible breath. "I'll uh…I'll k-keep that in mind, Shukaku-san."

"There you go, introductions are over. Enough of that bullshit." Kurama turned to the others. "You can go back to bed if you'd like, we're done here."

The three grumbled a thank-you under their breath, before climbing back upstairs to whatever it was the left behind. Gyūki shared a few private words with Matatabi before leaving as well, out the backdoor. Naruto asked where he was going, but Kurama refused to answer. "That guy is a mystery sometimes," he told him.

And then it was over. Shukaku went back to watching TV, Matatabi pulled a book out from a leather bag, stretching out on the couch to read, and Kurama grabbed another cigar from his back pocket, sitting in an armchair and puffing away. Naruto looked at Hinata, and Hinata looked at Naruto, standing in the middle of the kitchen with absolutely no idea what to do.

"Well…what now?" Naruto asked, after the silence became unbearable. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Kurama shrugged. "Hell if I know, kid. That's not really my problem, is it? Get something to eat, come and watch TV…we got a bathroom if you need to tug one off."

Shukaku laughed raucously, and Matatabi punched the both of them on the arm. Hard. Hinata hid her face in Naruto's shoulder, her cheeks burning red. Naruto's were as well.

"I d-don't need to do that!" he insisted, his tongue tripping over every word. "What're we supposed to do? People tried to kill us tonight, and you expect us to just sit around and act like nothing happened?"

"Why, are you gonna cry or something? I'd rather you whack one off than cry." Kurama opened the newspaper by his side. "Look kid, it's not like you can go running around outside without a care in the world anymore. I can't remember if it was you or the girl I talked to, but those people didn't try to kill you tonight. Sure, they wanted you dead, but not by blowing you to smithereens. I got a hunch that something else is going on, and my hunches are usually right. You just stay put while we figure out what's going on."

"Matatabi closed her book for a moment. "I know you two must be scared, but you're safe here. No one will ever hurt you while you're under our protection."

"Yeah, and you'll be under our protection as long as that old guy can pay us!" Shukaku explained, as if nothing was wrong with that. Hinata whimpered, clutching to Naruto like she might collapse into pieces if she let go. Matatabi punched him again.

"That pervert cares a lot about you, kid," Kurama said, looking at Naruto. "He told me plain and simple that money wouldn't be an issue as long as you need us. If money's not an issue, there's really nothing you need to worry about. We take our jobs very seriously here, and no one's gonna get to you when word gets out you're under our wing."

"And how long is that supposed to be?" Naruto demanded, stomping his foot. "What, we're just supposed to sit here and wait for the rest of our lives for those guys to leave us alone! If they were willing to try and blow us up—"

"I told you that they were just trying to send a message," Kurama started, but Naruto flipped him the bird, nostrils flaring.

"I don't care what they were doing! We have lives, you know! Stuff we want to do and try, and sitting here cowering in this dump isn't going to do anything! I'm not gonna stay here for the rest of my life!"

Hinata was glad Naruto was so bold. It had been her exact sentiment as well, though she maybe would have worded it a little nicer.

"You don't think I know that, you little shit-stain?" Kurama rose to his feet. Naruto had forgotten how big this man was, and the words caught in his throat as he slowly walked over to him. Kurama raised a hand…

And messed the blonde's hair up. He also punched him on top of the skull, but it was a sign of friendliness, of sorts.

"We'll look into it. Trust me, I've got enough mouths to feed as it is. I don't want two other brats in my house forever, just as much as you don't want to stay here forever. We're gonna try to make sure these scumbags leave you alone, one way or the other. If all that takes is a shakedown of a couple assholes, fine. If we have to gut the entire organization from top to bottom, that's fine too. It's been a while since I've had a challenge."

Shukaku laughed. "That ain't true! It's a challenge every time you have to pee, on account of the Chlamydia!"

Kurama growled something foul under his breath, throwing his cigar at the portly man before chasing him around the room. He nearly bowled Hinata over in his pursuit, and would have had Naruto not pulled her out of the way just in time.

Matatabi tapped him on the shoulder. "I think you two might be a little tired. You want me to show you upstairs?"

Naruto and Hinata nodded so hard Matatabi feared their heads might fall off.

* * *

There were three additional floors to the house, all wrapped around the staircase on the far side of the house. Every step creaked and moaned as they climbed, but Matatabi assured them that they would hold. When one broke, and Naruto's ankle was cut through, her assurance meant a _little _less to them. She called it a fixer-upper. Naruto called it a deathtrap.

"It's pretty much nothing but bedrooms up here," Matatabi explained, knocking on each successive door. "We've also got two bedrooms on each floor, so you're probably gonna be fine if you need to take care of your business, so long as one of the others don't need to at the same time. We've had a couple…accidents, since these pigs don't seem to have any self-control."

There was sudden thumping in the door next to him, and what sounded like very loud music. Matatabi pounded her fist against the door, and it was Chōmei who opened the door, smacking gum and dancing like Naruto and Hinata weren't even there in front of her.

"Would you mind turning it down a little?" Matatabi asked, hands on her hips. "It's a little to be working on this, isn't it?"

"You can't force creativity!" Chōmei insisted, shutting the door. "I have to work when I get the mojo!"

Matatabi sighed, and yanked on Naruto's collar, who had been staying behind tapping his foot to the addictive beat Chōmei was blasting through her speakers.

"She makes music in her spare time," Matatabi explained. "if you can call that 'music'."

There was another room in front of them. Saiken hadn't even bothered shutting the door, and was sitting in a tattered armchair watching what looked like a domestic dispute between two lesbians on the television, taking swigs of a freshly opened Sake bottle. Hinata made a face, and Naruto snickered loud enough for Saiken to hear. He scowled, muttered something foul under his breath, and threw the bottle towards the door. Naruto ducked, like it might smack him in the head, but instead the bottle hit the door, and slammed it shut.

When they turned the corner and walked up the next flight of stairs, the first door caught Hinata's interest. It have over 10 locks plastered all over it, and more 'stay out' signs than she could count. While Matatabi as showing Naruto the small game room they kept up there, Hinata inspected the door more closely. She reached out with one finger…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She jumped at the voice, looking for its source. She saw another intercom installed on the wall opposite to her, and guessed who had been talking to her. Above her head, another camera zoomed in.

"Please step away from the door," Isobu said quietly, but firmly. "The door's electrified, and I'd hate to have that kind of smell outside my room.

Hinata backed away. Slowly.

She hurried to catch up to Naruto and Matatabi, who were at the very end of the hall. On their left, was the third floor bathroom. In front of them was a small, unfurnished bedroom, and to their right, was the game room that Matatabi had mentioned. There was a pool table, and several chairs placed around it. Naruto spied a TV, and smacked his lips appreciatively, hoping he had enough money to afford more video games, since all of his got torched.

"Hinata, we set you up in the bedroom, and Naruto, you can stay in the game room," Matatabi said firmly, pointing to the bed in one room, and the sleeping bag in the other. Naruto made a face, but the sleeping bag looked comfortable enough, and it was sitting on top of several thick blankets and comforters as well. Couldn't be _that_ bad.

Matatabi gave them a warm smile. "Don't worry; we'll take care of you two just like you were one of us. We'll have this situation sorted out eventually."

"As long as Jiraiya can pay you," Naruto reminded.

Matatabi made a face, before forcing out another smile. "Get some sleep, you two. I'll call you down when there's breakfast if you're hungry." She left without another word.

Hinata turned to Naruto. "Wh-why would you remind her of that?" she asked.

Naruto shrugged. "To remind ourselves, I guess. If they're only gonna help as long as that Pervert can pay for it, we'll be safe. I don't have a doubt he'll pay as long as he can, me and him go way back, but he has a habit of running into money problems often. A lot of the time, I'm the one who needed to bail him out. As if it wasn't hard enough already…"

"What was that?" Hinata asked, as Naruto had said that last part quietly. He smiled, and waved his arms in front of him.

"It was nothing, nothing to worry about! I'm sure we'll be fine! Well, I hope you sleep okay, Hinata!"

He turned to set himself up in the game room, feeling extremely tired, but Hinata latched onto his arm before he could leave. When he turned around, she was a bright crimson, and seemed to be more interested in the floor than him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, turning around. Hinata squeaked several times, trying to say something, but the words would not come out. She kept pointing at the sleeping bag, and then to her room. It took longer than most people, but Naruto finally guessed what she wanted.

"You…want me to sleep in there?"

Hinata nodded.

"Why? That lady told us to sleep in separate rooms."

"M-makes me feel s-safe…"

It was Naruto's turn to blush. They hardly knew each other, but for some reason, Hinata couldn't help but feel safe around him. Maybe it was because he had come to her rescue, or maybe it was because she was just completely lost and scared, and had no idea where to turn. Naruto didn't think about it that much.

He flashed her a brilliant smile, and nodded happily. "Sure! If it makes you feel safe!"

As he trudged into the game room to collect his things, the camera in the corner zoomed in.

* * *

Matatabi stomped back downstairs in a none-too-happy mood. Kurama and Shukaku didn't even notice as she stared at them, hands on their hips.

Finally, she grew impatient. "What the hell was that about?" she demanded, nostrils flaring.

Kurama took a deep breath of his cigar. "What the hell was _what_ about? Be more specific, woman." He grunted in surprise when she slapped him across the top of his head. Shukaku laughed, choking on his takeout.

"I mean what the hell was that about earlier, with Naruto and Hinata? How are they going to feel safe when you tell them that we'll only protect them when they can pay for it? Do you have any idea how scared that must make them feel?"

Kurama stood to his full height. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, or put them in a false sense of security. We owe it to them to be honest. We're mercs; it's what we do."

"I don't think that old man's gonna run out of money anytime soon anyway, honey," Shukaku added in. "That guy's loaded. And to think he got it all by doing porn! Oh man, if only I had been born into the right business…"

The tension deflated like a balloon, as both Kurama and Matatabi let out a stream of curses, hitting Shukaku with whatever they could find. He only laughed, feebly fighting them off with one of the couch cushions. Eventually, a coughing fit forced Kurama to stop.

Matatabi still did not sit easy with Kurama's decision to tell the children about their real situation, but arguing about it would not solve anything. Better to show him, over time.

She sprawled out on the couch, stretching her arms and legs. "We'll need to see if we can't find out who's after these two kids, and why."

Kurama snorted. "I already have a pretty good guess."

That was good enough. "Kurama, you know what you have to do."

He groaned loudly. "The last time I saw him, things didn't turn out so well. I still think he's trying to get a restraining order against me."

"Deal with it. Saiken's already put out some feelers, but we won't hear from them in a while. You need to get info now, while this is still in the beginning."

Kurama inhaled deep, wasting through the rest of his cigar. But now that Matatabi was insisting, and she would continue to insist until it killed him, he immediately lit up another. The spark lit up his face, showing off the deep scowl.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But that doesn't mean I walk out of there without kicking his ass once or twice. I'll go see Son Goku tomorrow. Maybe this time he'll actually be helpful."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Like? Dislike? I hope for the former.

For the sake of immersion, if you're curious as to what Chōmei was listening to, just use this: /watch?v=OCqzd-gYJXE (copy and paste into Google.)

Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** New update!

Usually, I like to update this story at the same time as **Entwined by Love, Enslaved by Fate**, so I can send more than a few readers this way, but I'm still brainstorming Book Three, and I'm pretty sure I told a friend that I'd have a weekend chapter ready to go. Here you go, **Raddok**. I hope you, and anyone else reading, likes it! I got your back, brah.

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Old Habits Die Hard**

"Come here, you stupid bitch! I'm gonna cut that pretty little mouth right out of your head!"

Hinata raced further down the alleyway, desperate to escape. She sobbed as the footsteps grew louder and closer. Those three men were after her. The one with the long, yellow ponytail, the red-head, and that silver-haired foulmouthed one. No matter how fast she thought she was running, Hinata could hear them getting closer and closer. The silver-haired one was laughing maniacally, brandishing a knife in his hand. He reached out with grubby fingers, and clasped onto the back of her shirt. She screamed, and tried to kick him away.

"Nighty-night!" he snorted, throwing her to the ground. The last thing she saw was the flash of his knife, before it pierced through her stomach, and the wave of pain washed over her.

"NO!" she screamed, sitting up in bed.

Hinata was blinded by the light peeking through the blinds, and she felt a cold sweat draped over her like the blankets that had covered her.

She dipped a hand onto her stomach, afraid of what she might find, but when she lifted the covers, there was nothing there. No blood, and no knife.

'_Only a bad dream…'_ Hinata sighed with relief.

For a moment, she thought she was in her own bed, and scooted over to the edge, to slide her feet into her slippers. Her slippers were nowhere to be found, but her feet certainly slipped under _something_.

Arms flailing, Hinata came crashing to the floor, right on top of Naruto Uzumaki. Upon her insistence, Naruto had moved his things into her room, and had fallen asleep on the floor next to her bed. Closer than she remembered.

Sputtering out a thousand apologies, Hinata lifted herself onto her hands and knees. Naruto lay beneath her, snoring loudly. He hadn't even woken up.

She blinked several times. Obviously, he was a heavy sleeper. His sheets were almost on the other side of the room, and she spied the trail of drool across the carpet. And even after Hinata had fallen right on top of him, he hadn't noticed. There was a loopy smile on his face, and she was glad that at least one of them was having a good dream. Maybe it was even about her, if she was lucky.

Hinata leaned forward, taking a closer look. As lightly as she could, Hinata poked his cheek. He snored louder for a moment, but otherwise didn't stir. Hinata tried again, harder this time. Naruto rolled over to one side, scratching at his backside. Hinata blushed.

She shuffled over to his other side, and poked him again, even harder. Naruto muttered something in his sleep. Hinata leaned in closer to hear him.

"…is that how you say good morning in your family?"

Hinata was back on her feet in an instant, bright red and staring at the ground, while Naruto looked up at her with those brilliant blue eyes, grinning. Right about then, Hinata wouldn't have minded if she crawled back underneath those bed sheets, and never came out.

Naruto was up with her, rubbing his head as a huge yawn burst from his mouth. While picking at his ear, he took a closer look at Hinata. He could see the fine sheen of sweat covering her body, and he leaned over and looked at the way the sheets were tousled.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, looking her in the eye. Hinata nodded shyly, explaining she had only had a bad dream, and that it was nothing to be worried about. Upon further pressing, she told him what she had seen.

Naruto nodded, eyes closed. "Yeah, definitely only a dream. We have these guys looking out for us now, and I hope you haven't forgotten about me either! I'll look out for you, or my name isn't Naruto Uzumaki!"

He tried striking a dramatic pose, but his awkward sleeping position left his back a little strained, and there was a loud pop. He hollered in pain, jumping several feet into the air. Hinata giggled, her mind already forgetting all about that horrible nightmare.

"Hey, you up for some breakfast? I think I smell—"

"BREAKFAST!" someone yelled from downstairs, as loudly as possible. Naruto picked at his ear again, but was smiling.

"Heh, I thought my nose was twitching! Let's go see what we got for grub today!"

He latched onto Hinata's tiny hand, and led her through the hallways, back downstairs. On their way, Hinata noticed the door that belonged to Isobu was still closed, with all the locks still latched up. He didn't leave them like that even when he wasn't in his room, did he?

Naruto didn't even notice, and was chattering like a monkey all the way downstairs, his stomach almost as loud as Naruto himself. When they made the final turn, and Naruto saw the splendid spread before them, he let out a squeal of joy, and hurried over, looking for a plate.

But just before he started picking out what suited him, there was a clamor from upstairs, and suddenly Naruto was on the floor, eyes rolling in the back of his head. Hinata rushed over to help him up.

It seems everyone else had jumped downstairs at the call for food, and had accidently knocked Naruto off his feet in their rush to be fed. Naruto grumbled something foul as he got to his feet.

Kokuō was actually the first one to notice Naruto and Hinata standing there, having turned around with a full plate. When he saw Naruto rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder, he elbowed Chōmei next to him, who elbowed Shukaku, who belched. They all turned around.

"Good morning, you two," Kokuō said warmly, offering his own plate to Hinata, who accepted it graciously. While he picked out another, Chōmei let Naruto jump ahead of her in the veritable line that was forming behind them. Saiken had stumbled downstairs, yet another sake bottle swishing in his hand, and when he stumbled at the bottom of the stairs, Naruto realized that Kurama had fallen asleep in the armchair behind him, snoring loudly as a newspaper covered his face.

"He rarely goes back to his own bed," a voice behind him explained. Matatabi put her hand on Naruto's shoulder, smiling at him. "I hope you slept well. Go ahead and get something to eat. I'll worry about waking him up."

Naruto nodded, and turned back to the feast before him. There was bacon burnt extra crispy, biscuits lathered in honey and butter, and more pancakes than Naruto thought his stomach had room for. Bananas and slices of pineapple, a big container of yogurt, and sausages and scrambled eggs. Naruto's mouth looked like a waterfall.

"How…how'd you cook all this?" Naruto asked aloud, in wonderment.

Matatabi smiled. "You can thank Gyūki for that." She pointed behind him, and Naruto spun back around just as the back door opened. Gyūki came stumbling in, dressed in a frilly pink apron that was covered in grease and dried batter. He grabbed another set of trash bags that were by the door, hoisting them over his shoulders. When he saw Naruto staring, he smiled and waved with the bags still in his hands.

"Eat up, motha fucka!" he said happily, before disappearing back outside. Naruto was only too happy to oblige him.

"What? No waffles?" Shukaku complained, nosing through the rest of the spread on the other side of the table. "How am I supposed to enjoy a wonderful meal if there aren't any waffles?"

Kurama, who had been shaken awake by Matatabi, growled at him. "Don't even start. This is coming from the guy who dips his pizza in chocolate sauce."

Naruto and Hinata made a face, but Shukaku only laughed. "Hey, don't knock it until you try it!"

Hinata looked around, taking note of the absence. "Ummm…where is Isobu-san?" she asked quietly. "Did he n-not hear you?"

Matatabi shook her head. "Oh, he heard me all right. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

She smacked Saiken across the back of his head. "Take care of it."

Saiken muttered something that was more than likely insulting, but he dare not argue. He quickly threw together another plate, and trudged over to a metal chute sitting in the wall near the door. He jammed a button with a grubby finger, and the chute suddenly opened, with enough room for him to set the plate down. Naruto and Hinata watched with strange fascination.

"You're kidding, right?" Naruto finally said, when the plate disappeared.

Matatabi shrugged. "We tried for years, but he's just not one to leave his room. Isobu does everything he needs to up there. He's got his own bathroom, a vacuum and other cleaning supplies, and if anything's broken, we send up new parts through the chute."

"I like my privacy," Naruto heard Isobu say behind him, from the intercom. "Don't take it personal."

Naruto didn't know whether to look at the intercom, or the camera sitting high in the corner. Eventually he just decided to look at neither, and try to get back to his meal.

He and Hinata both had finished plates, and they wandered over to the living room, standing awkwardly in the middle with no idea where they might sit. Chōmei and Kokuō took two of the chairs at the kitchen table. Whilst Kokuō was dumping pepper on nearly everything on his plate, Chōmei was churning it all into one gelatinous glob of food, before shoving it all into her mouth at once. Naruto made another face.

Kurama saw them out of the corner of his eye, and sighed. "Just sit down, kid. No one's gonna bite you."

He aimed a feeble kick in Shukaku's direction, who was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, same as he had last night. "You. Scoot over so they have somewhere to sit."

Shukaku did as he was bid, but accidently knocked over the coffee table as his ample belly pushed into it, sending his breakfast splattering all over the floor, and over Naruto's feet. He whined loudly, and didn't even bother cleaning it up before getting up to grab a new one. Kurama sighed.

"Hey, aren't you gonna eat something?" Naruto asked, noticing Kurama hadn't moved yet. He had a cup of coffee next to him, right beside his pack of cigars, but other than that, it didn't look like he'd had anything to eat yet.

Kurama shrugged. "I pick through whatever's left. You have no idea how wasteful these idiots can be." He pointed to the scrambled eggs on Naruto's foot. "For example…"

There was a shout, and Naruto spun back around. Gyūki was staring at him, or to be more accurate, staring at the mess at his feet. "What the fuck, man?" he groaned, grabbing a rag and scurrying over like a housemaid. "I just cleaned dis motha fuckin' floor, and you puttin' all dis shit all over it…I swear…"

Kurama laughed. "Don't blame the kid. I'll give you one good guess as to who actually did it."

Gyūki turned on Shukaku who had just gotten back with his second plate, having already eaten half of it on his way. Gyūki snatched it out of his hands, and held up over his head. Shukaku was a big man, but that was width, not height.

"You wanna eat the rest of this, you eat outside, pig!" Gyūki said firmly, pointing to the open backdoor. "I'm not gon' have you fuckin' up the place while we got guests, you got it?"

Shukaku made a face, and grabbed the plate when Gyūki put it in reach. He unceremoniously farted all over him, before giggling like a schoolgirl as he raced outside, grabbing the chair from underneath Chōmei. She went tumbling to the floor, and her fork went flying, poking Kokuō in the eye. As he flailed his arms back and forth, he bumped into Saiken, who had up until then been eating quietly over by the counter. His sake bottle spilled to the floor, and when he turned around to yell at Kokuō, he slipped on the alcohol, falling to the floor, and sending what little remained of his breakfast into the air, until it splattered all over Chōmei, who began to punch him in the stomach. Complete and utter chaos erupted in the kitchen, with all three shouting and hitting one another like schoolchildren.

Matatabi rolled her eyes, got to her feet, and tried to settle everyone down, while Kurama just snorted, breathing an ample amount of cigar smoke through his nose. He saw Naruto and Hinata staring at them all, and almost laughed.

"Now you know why I wait."

He suddenly rose from his armchair, stretching two massive arms. "Well, if that's all, I think I'll go get some real sleep. Tending to you idiots sure does take it out of me."

He started for the steps, but right when he put his foot on the very lowest, he realized that the entire room had fallen silent. He looked back.

Everyone was staring at him, including Naruto and Hinata. Naruto's mouth was full of sausage (something that wouldn't have escaped Shukaku's perverted mind had he not been eating outside), and even Hinata was trying to mask the fact that she had been peeking.

"What? Take a picture why don't you," Kurama grumbled, gingerly taking another step. He heard the air behind him whistle, and he closed his eyes.

The wooden spoon cracked down across the back of his skull with enough force to feel like it was a horse, and he crumpled to the steps, rubbing his head. Matatabi stood over him, brandishing the deadly weapon in one hand, while she glared at him. How she had gotten behind him, no one knew.

"Crazy woman…" he muttered to himself, touching the growing lump on his head. "What's the big idea!?"

Matatabi pointed the spoon in his direction. "I know what you're trying to do. You're hoping you could sleep all day, and put off seeing Son."

Kurama's eyes darted to the floor. "Nuh-uh!" he sputtered, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I was just gonna go take a little nap, and go see him later today! I swear!"

Matatabi wasn't buying it. "Bullshit. You know he gets grumpier as the day goes on. You'd never go see him if you could help it. You said you would, and so help me, if you try and back out of this one—"

"Alright, alright…fine, I'll go!" Kurama said, getting back to his feet. He turned to everyone else. "But I'm not going alone. Which one of you assholes is coming along?"

Suddenly, everyone had something better to do. Saiken muttered that he had to wash the dishes. Kokuō swore that his mother was sick, and needed to go see her. Chōmei said she was supposed to get an important call sometime later today.

The back door opened, and Shukaku walked in, belching loudly. Everyone glanced from Kurama, back to Shukaku. He didn't even notice until Saiken elbowed him in the stomach. He looked at Kurama, who was grinning.

"You're coming with me to see Son," Kurama said firmly.

Shukaku blinked. Then he started to laugh, loud and long. Finally, he unceremoniously gave Kurama the finger, and told him he'd rather get a prostate exam with a rake. He grabbed another plate, and disappeared outside once more.

Kurama was about to start yelling at everyone, when he noticed Naruto picking at his food, trying his hardest not to look conspicuous. Sucks to be him, Kurama supposed.

"Hey kid…_you're_ coming with me to see Son," he said, smiling.

Naruto turned around, acting like Kurama might have been talking to someone else. When he saw the huge man still staring at him, he started shaking his head back and forth so fast it looked like his neck might snap off. "No way! If all these guys don't want to go see him, he must be really scary! I think I'll stay here, thank you."

Kurama thought fast. He'd seen punks like Naruto before, and knew exactly how to handle him. "Yeah, I guess you're too much of a wimp to come along. Son Goku'd probably chew up and spit out someone like you. I don't know why I asked."

Naruto was on his feet, bristling. "Bullshit! I'm just as tough as any of you guys!"

Everyone burst into laughter, except for Hinata and Matatabi, and Naruto felt his ears heat up from embarrassment.

Kurama wiped a fake tear from his eye. "Really? Oh, sure—like I'd believe that! Listen kid, you don't really have to come—"

And then Naruto was in front of him, blue eyes burning with determination. "I'm going. Watch and learn, _old man_."

Kurama sneered. '_This kid might be more entertaining than I thought.'_ "Good. Get dressed, and we'll leave soon enough. You might want to bring a change of pants."

Naruto mumbled something rude under his breath as the other laughed again, and stalked upstairs to change back into his other change of clothes.

While Kurama waited by the door, Matatabi helped Hinata clean up her dishes. "Hinata, would you like to come with me today?" she asked. "You and Naruto need some new clothes, since the rest of your things kind of…well, you know. We'll also need to pick up some things at the grocery store."

Hinata was still a little shy around everyone else, and Naruto was not down there to make her feel better. She kept her eyes on the empty plate in front of her, and then she stared at the floor when she passed her dishes onto Saiken. "I th-thought we needed to stay here," she finally said, almost too quiet to hear. "Won't it be dangerous to go outside?"

Matatabi laughed softly. "It'll be fine if I'm with you. You'll find that all of us have made a habit of looking out for things no one else does, even if they're not there. If anyone tries to pull something, I'll know long before you're in any danger."

She smiled widely. "Besides, I'm sure you could use a little girl-time."

Hinata looked at her. She smiled a little, though her heart was still pounding in her chest. She fiddled with her hands, as she so often did when she was nervous, but tried to push those feelings down. She didn't want to be rude, right?

So Hinata, with a deep breath, nodded slowly. "O-okay. I'd be happy to go with you."

Matatabi sent Hinata upstairs to get dressed, and she ran into Hinata on the way back down.

"Heh, looks like I'm stuck going!" Naruto said happily, looking away. Hinata took another look, and from the way his legs were shaking, she could see that he was just as scared as she was.

So she placed a tiny hand on his shoulder, the lightest of touches. Naruto looked at her hand, and then he looked at her. She wanted to squirm under the gaze of those intense eyes of his, but just like her fear, she pushed that down into the pit of her stomach. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I c-can't explain it, but I think we can trust them."

Naruto smiled. "Oh, so I'm 'Naruto-kun' now, am I? I guess we're becoming friends faster than I could have hoped!" He winked at her, grinning like an idiot.

Hinata's cheeks burned as Naruto laughed and ran back down the stairs.

* * *

Naruto was never one for silence. Kurama had barely said two words to him since they jumped into a car they had parked out back, and headed for this guy they called Son Goku. He had tried asking several more times, but Kurama either grunted out something Naruto already knew, or ignored him altogether. Clearly, he did _not_ want to visit this man.

But finally, Naruto could no longer stand the silence. "Are you gonna tell me anything about this guy or not?" he demanded, glaring at him.

Kurama took a deep breath, letting the smoke fill his lungs before he turned to Naruto, and exhaled right into his face. The younger man coughed and wheezed, rolling the window down to get it out of the car.

"…we used to work together," Kurama finally said, staring straight ahead.

"Like you and that Gyūki guy?" Naruto asked.

"Not even close. What Son and I did was…different. In more ways than one. It's not your business to know any of the details, but I'll tell you that things went south one day, and we split. Never really liked each other in the first place."

Naruto watched Kurama carefully, but the man was keeping his eyes on the road, and there nothing going on inside them. For all Naruto could tell, Kurama was telling the truth. He still had loads of questions, but Kurama still had plenty of cigars, and he wasn't too keen on getting lung cancer.

He didn't have to wait much longer. A few minutes passed, and Naruto watched the city around them grow danker and more dangerous. He could have sworn he even saw someone getting mugged in an alleyway he passed. Subconsciously, he rolled up the window.

They rolled to a stop, in front of a building that looked highly out of place. It was fairly clean, and the people in front of it didn't look like they would shank Naruto the moment he got out of the car. There was a flickering neon sign in the window that read _Roshi's_. When Kurama turned the car off, and stepped outside, Naruto could smell something tasty. A restaurant, by the look of it.

"Keep your mouth shut," Kurama warned him. "Don't give Son any excuse to kick us out, or get his boys to beat the shit out of you in the back."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat, and made a mental note to do as Kurama said. As they walked to the door, one of the patrons began to loudly complain that he had been waiting for over 45 minutes. One look from Kurama told the man that he wasn't interested in eating, and he promptly shut his mouth.

The noise inside was incredible. People crowded around every table, laughing and talking loudly with one another. There was a man playing guitar on a small stage installed into one of the corners, and people cheered and clapped as he finished his song, before driving right into the next. Heavy smoke filled the room, enough to make Naruto's eyes water, as intoxicating smells wafted out of the kitchen, and onto the restaurant floor.

A thick, hairy man stood nearby, accepting customers and directing them to open tables. When he spied Naruto and Kurama, the blood drained from his face.

"You really shouldn't be here," the man warned, looking over his shoulder. "You remember what happened the last time! The news was all over that fiasco. And the fires…"

Naruto's eyes turned as big as saucers. "What the hell did you _do_ the last time you came here?"

"Just talked; honest." Kurama turned back to the man. "Look, just lemme see him for a few minutes, okay? I've got this brat with me, so nothing's gonna happen."

"Hey, I'm no brat!" Naruto complained, though Kurama ignored him.

The man looked at the two of them, and sighed. Motioning for them to follow him, he led them through the restaurant floor, ducking and weaving through servers carrying out customers' orders. The smells got stronger and stronger, and Naruto was fighting to keep the drool from dripping out of the corners of his mouth. When they started into the kitchens themselves, Naruto gave up.

Cooks and waiters and waitresses of all kinds raced back and forth, pots steaming and water boiling. They were shouting commands at one another, and no matter how hard Naruto tried to discern the chaos, he couldn't begin to understand how everything was running as smoothly as it appeared to be. Everyone stayed well clear of each other when carrying hot food, and ingredients always seemed to show up to the right stations just when they were needed.

And above all, one voice rose above them. Deep and gruff, he roared to keep up the pace, that the day was far from over, and that if anyone slacked off, they'd be cleaning out the dumpster with a toothbrush.

As they drew closer, Naruto took a better look at the man. He was heavy-set, with broad shoulders and powerful legs, and just a hint of a protruding belly. His chin was covered with bristly red whiskers, as bright as the cooking fires he was surrounded by. Instead of the traditional chef's hat, he preferred wearing a dark green headband to keep his hair back, tied in a bun. A few strands fell in front of piercing yellow eyes, but he did not notice them.

He did, however, notice Naruto and Kurama standing there. The chaos around them faded for a second, before the subordinates quickly realized who had shown up. Suddenly everybody needed to handle something on the other side of the kitchen, and they scurried away as Son Goku glared at Kurama.

And then there was a knife in his hand. He roared, and charged straight towards Kurama with the blade held over his head. Kurama didn't look the least bit surprised, and his arm latched onto Son's before the knife got him in the chest.

"You gotta lot of nerve, showing your face here," Son spat, baring his teeth.

Kurama glared back at him. "Trust me, it's not because I miss you or anything. I just need to talk to you for a bit—"

"I don't give a shit_ what_ you want! I want you out, NOW." He pointed towards the door. "You, and your fucking brat have 10 seconds to leave, before I find something sharper."

Naruto forgot himself for a second. "Hey, he just wants to talk to you. He's trying to help me, assho—!" He was suddenly lifted into the air, as Son grabbed onto Naruto's collar with one powerful arm, holding him close to his face. Naruto winced as Son's hot breath brushed against his face.

"Do I look like I give a goddamn's rat's ass about what he's doing here?" he asked, in a low and dangerous voice.

Kurama stepped forward, grabbing the back of Naruto's shirt, and yanking him back to the ground. "Leave him be, Son. He didn't do anything wrong." The way Kurama was glaring at him screamed otherwise. Naruto repeated in his mind over and over again that he needed to keep his mouth shut like Kurama had asked.

"The kid's right; I'm helping him, and now I need _your_ help."

Son shook his head. "I already told you, I'm not helping you for shit. Get out of my establishment, now."

Kurama moved fast. In a second, he had the knife in his hand, and he plunged it so close to Son's ear that he could hear the metal sing. It went right past him, and embedded itself into the table behind him. Everyone was staring.

"Get back to work!" Son roared. Everyone in the kitchens did their best to pretend they hadn't been watching, and rushed back to their stations.

Kurama stared evenly at Son, the corner of his mouth turning upward in a barely-concealed sneer. "I just need to know if there's any word on the street. Saiken's already talked to his, but you have plenty that he doesn't. This kid and his girlfriend are in a lot of trouble, and I have a feeling it's bigger than what you see at first glance."

Son Goku said nothing for a time, taking deep breaths and glaring at Kurama. Every now and then his eyes darted back to Naruto, who was quick to drop his own to the floor.

"Do it as a favor for the kid," Kurama said quietly. "He almost got killed last night."

Something in Son's eyes softened for a few precious seconds, before he turned around briskly. He started walking towards a room separated from the rest of the kitchens. "In my office. Let's get this over with."

The heavy door swung open, and the smells of rich mahogany spices flooded Naruto's nose. The walls were littered with awards and commendations for Son's restaurant, or restaurants, as Naruto realized. There must have been several others scattered across Tokyo. Naruto could have sworn he had passed by one or two of them.

"So, you want me to tell you if someone's after this kid?" Son asked, eyeing Naruto carefully. "You ever considered I don't know who he is?"

Kurama ignored the gibe. "No. The kid got involved after he tried helping out his girlfriend. I want you to tell me if there's anything going around about the Hyūga family."

That had been the second time Kurama had referred to Hinata as Naruto's girlfriend, and the second time he completely missed it. Son, meanwhile, got to his feet, and headed for a file cabinet in the corner.

"How would this guy know anything about illegal stuff?" Naruto asked quietly. "He seems like a good guy to me."

"When we used to work together, he had more than enough contacts in the criminal underworld. Some to keep tabs on them, others to help us with a job. When he left, those men and women went with him. They never liked me all that much."

"No one ever liked you much, asshol," Son reminded him, pulling a file out of his cabinet, and plopping it on his desk. "These the Hyūga's you're talking about?"

Kurama leaned forward, and so did Naruto. His eyes widened as he scanned over the page. Something about Hiashi Hyūga owning a vast fortune, and one of the most successful research firms in Tokyo. Was Hinata one of _these_ Hyūgas? His mind struggled to comprehend that.

Kurama nodded. "Yep, that's them all right. You get someone as rich as their family, I can only imagine why they're after the girl now."

Son agreed. "Ransom."

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked. "They're gonna try to kidnap Hinata? They can't do that!"

Son folded his arms. "There's rumors flying around, kid. There's a certain organization going after that girl, if you believe such rumors. And your 'good friend' here can't protect her for shit. If what I hear is true, she's like to be in their hands by week's end."

Kurama frowned. "She's safe with me, Son. I'm not about to let her—"

"What? You gonna tell me that you're gonna save her? That you'll do everything in your power to keep that girl safe? No, where have I heard that load of bullshit before?"

The tension in the room suddenly spiked, and Naruto dropped his eyes to the floor, not wanting to set off either one of them.

"That happened a long time ago, Kurama growled. "There were things out of my control—"

"Bullshit!" Son shouted, jumping up to his feet. "That's bullshit! It's bullshit, and you know it's bullshit!"

He turned around, looking through the glass back into his kitchen. "I don't want to hear another word out of you. You got what you came for; word on the street is that the Akatsuki's after Hinata Hyūga, daughter to Hiashi Hyūga. Call it cliché if you'd like, but that's what they say. Now get the fuck out of here. I'm tired of looking at you."

Kurama watched Son's back for a few moments. He didn't seem angry. In fact, he seemed anything but. Slowly, he got to his feet, and motioned for Naruto to follow him out of the office. Before he left, however, while Naruto was standing outside, he leaned in close to Son, and muttered something in his ear. Son angrily pushed him away, and was about to spout off at him, before he noticed Naruto out of the corner of his eye. He stared for a second or two, before nodding slowly.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked, as Kurama led him back through the restaurant to their car. "What did you ask him? Was it about me?"

"Forget it, kid. You don't need to worry about it right now." Kurama pulled out his phone, jamming in a number. "I need to call Tabby. She needs to know this."

But he stood there, and a conversation never started. He tried again, and this time Naruto could hear the answering machine pick up. Kurama left a hasty message, and snapped the phone shut. He grabbed onto Naruto's arm, wrenched open the car door, and shoved him inside.

"Hey! What's the matter?" Naruto asked.

"She's not answering her cellphone. She has a nasty habit of leaving it at the house when she goes out."

The blood from Naruto's face drained away. "Is something…is something happening?"

"Beats me, kid. I just gotta bad feeling about this."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sheeeeeeet. That can't be good.

I hope you liked it! I have a lot of fun writing this story, just as I have a lot of fun writing my other stories. If you haven't yet, maybe you could check them out? I would be most appreciative, sirs and madams.


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